Live updates: Wall St slips ahead of Chinese trade talks, ASX set for small gain
However, futures trading on the ASX points to a marginally stronger opening, up around 0.2 per cent.
Follow the day's financial news and insights from our specialist business reporters on our live blog.
Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
Is the Aussie dollar actually getting stronger?
Confused about all those news reports on the strength of the Aussie dollar? For most of this year, there's been a constant message that the local currency is shooting the lights out, bounding to ever greater heights. Since the beginning of the year, it has jumped more than 10 per cent against the US dollar. That sounds like reason to celebrate until you look at travelling or purchasing something online from anywhere other than the US. That's when the penny drops, if you'll excuse the pun. That's when you realise the Aussie dollar fundamentally remains weak, especially given it was around 80 per cent stronger a decade ago. For the story is not so much one of Australian dollar greatness. It's more a tale of the decline in the greenback and an erosion of trust in Washington. The once almighty American dollar has been falling against almost every major currency ever since Donald Trump became the 47th US president. None more so than the Euro which has risen more than 15 per cent against the greenback this year. It began with President Trump's inauguration following his pledge to impose tariffs on America's trading partners. It accelerated with the chaotic tariff implementation in April, the escalating threats against China, Canada and Mexico and then the backdowns. The clout the US holds as the world's biggest economy, and the benefits that flow from controlling the global reserve currency, is beginning to unwind. The French refer to it as "privilege exorbitant". It's a term that highlights the power conferred upon the US by virtue of its currency being the international standard by which all others are measured. Everything, from currencies to commodities, is priced in US dollars. America is in the sole position of being able to purchase its imports in its own currency. Everyone else must convert to US dollars. That boosts demand for greenbacks, strengthening the currency and making it cheaper for Americans to buy products from abroad. It also lowers US interest rates. America's central role in the financial system has ensured demand for US government debt from international investors. US government debt is considered the safest investment on the planet and, in times of turmoil, investors dump everything and head for the safe haven of American government bonds. That's now changing. And the change, under the Trump administration, is accelerating. At the turn of the century, the US dollar accounted for 73 per cent of global foreign reserves, such was the international demand by foreign governments for greenbacks. By the end of 2024, that share had dropped to just 58 per cent. It's a similar story with US Treasuries. A decade ago, foreigners held more than half of US government debt on issue. That's now down to a third. The rise of BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa — has been deliberately targeted as an alternative to circumvent America's dominant standing in the global financial system. They've been joined by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates as part of the push towards de-dollarisation. For the first time, they're being directly aided by the US itself. There is a view within the US administration that the US dollar's reserve currency status is a burden on the economy. As we discovered during the mining investment boom, the surging Australian dollar rendered much of our manufacturing sector uncompetitive. The price of imports plunged, sending many local operators to the wall, or forcing them to shift their production offshore. But the decline in the Aussie dollar, from $US1.10 more than a decade ago to 65c now, has done little to reverse that trend. Australia essentially has de-industrialised. Manufacturing comprises just 5 per cent of the economy, the lowest in the OECD, which is one of the reasons our productivity growth is so low. Trump believes a weaker US dollar, and stepping back from its central role in global finance, will revive American industry. But at what cost? What the administration fails to grasp is the impact of its reserve status on interest rates. The American economy has thrived because of the sheer volume of global cash coursing through its system. Deliberately walking back from that will have the opposite effect. Interest rates will rise and Washington will struggle to keep its finances in order as the interest bill — already at $US1 trillion a year — continues to grow. Europe has been basking in the glow of America's woes. America's increasing use of financial sanctions against its enemies already had undermined confidence in the US dollar as the pillar of global finance. But the Trump administration's aggressive approach to trade and defence with even its closest allies has shaken international trust in the US's standing. In April, as financial markets plunged on news of the President's Liberation Day tariffs, the US dollar slumped and the flow of money out of the US turned into a flood. Much of it found its way to alternative safe havens in Switzerland — pushing the Swiss Franc higher — and other part of Europe. As a result, the euro appears now to be permanently elevated. That's despite much lower interest rates across the European Union. Australians, in the meantime, gradually are becoming accustomed to measuring the currency against an array of alternative yardsticks. We may have strengthened against the US dollar this year. But so has everyone else.
AU Financial Review
4 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
Regulator zeros in on Bally's Star rescue deal
Star Entertainment's rescue plan could be under threat with the NSW casino regulator warning it will closely examine the finances and leadership of Bally's Corporation before allowing it to take control. The American gaming giant will control Star, which operates casinos in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, after providing a $300 million lifeline earlier this year. It has already flagged its intention of overhauling management as part of a turnaround plan and Bally's chairman Soo Kim is expected to join the board of the ASX-listed gaming group.
News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘This is very big': Delighted Trump hails Australian beef deal for a second day
Donald Trump has again riffed about Australia's decision to allow more US beef to come in to the country claiming on Friday it would be the 'first time' American beef would be sold in Australia. Seemingly out of the blue on Friday, and a full day after he declared victory due to Australia dropping its restrictions, Mr Trump was back on his TruthSocial platform talking about it again. 'Australia to take US BEEF for first time,' he wrote on Friday morning, US time. 'A very BIG market. I hope our GREAT FARMERS ARE HAPPY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!' Australia had not banned US beef. But on Thursday, agriculture minister Julie Collins confirmed Australia will remove the ban on American beef that came from cattle originating in Canada and Mexico after a decade-long review. It was originally put in place to stop bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known as mad cow disease, from coming into Australia. Since 2019, Australia has allowed imports of beef raised and slaughtered in the US. But it did not allow for the import into Australia via the US of beef raised in neighbouring countries. Additional measures put in place by the US to track the origin of Canadian and Mexican beef are being cited as the reason Australia is now satisfied. 'For a long time, and even though we are great friends, they actually banned our Beef,' said Mr Trump on Thursday, US time. Now, we are going to sell so much to Australia because this is undeniable and irrefutable Proof that US Beef is the Safest and Best in the entire World.' The US imports billions of dollars of Australian beef each years which is leaner than American beef. Decision based on 'science' The Albanese government has been quick to deny the timing has anything to do with drawn-out tariff talks with the US, reported NewsWire. But removing restrictions was one of Washington's key demands in tariff negotiations, with Mr Trump specifically accusing Australia of banning American beef during remarks on 'liberation day' – the day the US imposed blanket tariffs on all foreign imports, including Australian products. But both Ms Collins and Trade Minister Don Farrell have claimed it is simply a coincidence the beef review ended just weeks after the US President threatened a 200 per cent tariff on foreign-made pharmaceuticals. 'We haven't made any compromise, and we certainly haven't compromised Australia's strict biosecurity laws,' Senator Farrell told reporters huddled in a Parliament House corridor on Thursday. 'This has been a process that's been underway for the last 10 years. 'It's now come to a completion, and it's appropriate that we announce the results of that inquiry, but at no stage do we risk our terrific biosecurity standards for any trade arrangement.'
