1
00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:06,400
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report

2
00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,479
Speaker 1: for Tuesday, the seventeenth of March twenty twenty six. Oh,

3
00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:12,480
Speaker 1: Michael Thompson, and every afternoon, we've got the five stories

4
00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:14,680
Speaker 1: that happened today that you need to know about. Let's

5
00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,960
Speaker 1: go with story number one. The Reserve Bank Board has

6
00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,639
Speaker 1: increased the official cash rate by twenty five basis points,

7
00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,000
Speaker 1: taking it to four point one percent. That is two

8
00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:26,400
Speaker 1: consecutive rate hikes now from the Central Bank. And it

9
00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:29,240
Speaker 1: was widely expected, but in the end it was actually

10
00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:32,600
Speaker 1: a split decision, with the Board voting five to four

11
00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,479
Speaker 1: in favor of the increase to help tackle inflation. Speaking

12
00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,600
Speaker 1: after the meeting, Reserve Bank Governor Michelle Bullock said, and

13
00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:43,040
Speaker 1: I quote, the whole Middle Eastern situation has resulted in

14
00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:45,879
Speaker 1: concerns about inflation and as a result, a lift in

15
00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:50,000
Speaker 1: expectation for central bank interest rates. The SMPA s X

16
00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:52,960
Speaker 1: two hundred rows zero point four percent to close at

17
00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:58,320
Speaker 1: eighty six hundred and fourteen points. Banks led the gains.

18
00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:00,800
Speaker 1: They were one of the big moving sector as higher

19
00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:04,160
Speaker 1: rates boost margins. Westpac was up one point four percent,

20
00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:07,480
Speaker 1: NAB was up nearly one percent. Commonwealth Bank added zero

21
00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,440
Speaker 1: point three percent. NAB actually became the first of the

22
00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:13,040
Speaker 1: big four banks to pass the interest rate hike onto

23
00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:17,600
Speaker 1: mortgage holders. Material stocks also rebounded after yesterday's sell off.

24
00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:19,680
Speaker 1: BHP was up more than one percent, so it was

25
00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:23,800
Speaker 1: four to skew. That's as iron ore prices are kind

26
00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:27,039
Speaker 1: of edging higher, we are seeing that benefit. BHP four

27
00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,400
Speaker 1: to scue. Gold miners rallied, while energy stocks were a

28
00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,880
Speaker 1: bit mixed today as oil prices hovered just above one

29
00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:38,560
Speaker 1: hundred US dollars a barrel, the rate sensitive sectors tended

30
00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,119
Speaker 1: to lag today. Technology retail stocks were weaker wise Tech,

31
00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,720
Speaker 1: for instance, it was down three percent, Zero was off

32
00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,600
Speaker 1: nearly two percent, and West Farmers declined one point six

33
00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,960
Speaker 1: percent today. Under story number two. There were actually a

34
00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:55,320
Speaker 1: few other bits and pieces of corporate news around today.

35
00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,720
Speaker 1: Worth a mentioned. Challenger lowered its takeover offer for pepper

36
00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:01,880
Speaker 1: Money to two dollars time twenty five a share. That's

37
00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:06,520
Speaker 1: down from two dollars sixty and they cited deteriorating market conditions.

38
00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,480
Speaker 1: Pepper Money's share price tumbled as a result. It was

39
00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:12,600
Speaker 1: down almost fifteen percent today, while on the other hand,

40
00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,840
Speaker 1: Challenges climbed three point five percent. Coal Mine and New

41
00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,360
Speaker 1: Hope dropped six and a half percent after reporting an

42
00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,639
Speaker 1: eighty four percent drop in net profit driven by week

43
00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,480
Speaker 1: of coal prices, and quickly. Pexit Group's share price climbed

44
00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:28,080
Speaker 1: one and a half percent after it said it had

45
00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:32,080
Speaker 1: sold its Informed Decisions business as it continues to exit

46
00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:36,919
Speaker 1: digital solutions. Story number three. The family of alleged Bondai

47
00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,840
Speaker 1: attacker Navid Akram has received death threats and been targeted

48
00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:44,200
Speaker 1: by vigilantes, a court has been told as he seeks

49
00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:48,399
Speaker 1: a sweeping suppression order. Akram was appearing via video link

50
00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,839
Speaker 1: from Golden Supermax Prison. He's asking for a forty year

51
00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,720
Speaker 1: order to hide identifying details of his family, arguing they

52
00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,800
Speaker 1: faced serious risk of harm. Barris has told the court

53
00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,560
Speaker 1: that the family home had been targeted with eggs, pork

54
00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:05,160
Speaker 1: and a bottle of liquid believed to be urine, while

55
00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,120
Speaker 1: threats had been made warning that they could be killed.

56
00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:10,880
Speaker 1: The court expect. The court heard that the order may

57
00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:13,919
Speaker 1: be difficult though to enforce, given there has been extensive

58
00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:18,160
Speaker 1: global coverage of the case already. A decision on the

59
00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:22,480
Speaker 1: suppression order is expected on April second. Story number four,

60
00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:26,280
Speaker 1: Australian tech company at Lassion is facing legal action in

61
00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,760
Speaker 1: the United States, with labor prosecutors alleging that the company

62
00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:34,880
Speaker 1: illegally fired an employee who criticized management. The case centers

63
00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:39,560
Speaker 1: on a software engineer who spoke out about workplace changes

64
00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:45,600
Speaker 1: during an internal meeting, invoking the company's open company nobs philosophy.

65
00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,600
Speaker 1: The engineer then went onto a Slack channel for employees,

66
00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,960
Speaker 1: criticizing then co CEO Mike Cannon. Brooks is now the

67
00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:55,400
Speaker 1: sole CEO, but at the time he was sharing the job,

68
00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,480
Speaker 1: criticizing him for dialing into the meeting from the headquarters

69
00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:03,000
Speaker 1: of the Utah Jazz NBA team that he owns only

70
00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:06,000
Speaker 1: too and I quote yell at the people whose careers

71
00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:10,080
Speaker 1: he'd just pummeled. Now, US labor officials argue the dismissal

72
00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:14,400
Speaker 1: breached laws protecting workers' rights to discuss and protest workplace conditions.

73
00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:18,200
Speaker 1: At Lassian, though denies wrongdoing, saying this is a quote

74
00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:22,720
Speaker 1: from the company's lawyer, it was an irrelevant personal attack

75
00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:26,200
Speaker 1: and insult directed at a colleague, essentially calling him a

76
00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:30,320
Speaker 1: rich jerk. And finally, story number five, US President Donald

77
00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,279
Speaker 1: Trump says he plans to delay a high stakes meeting

78
00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:36,640
Speaker 1: with the Chinese President Jijin Ping as he focuses on

79
00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,080
Speaker 1: the escalating A Rahm conflict. The meeting had been scheduled

80
00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,640
Speaker 1: for late March, but may be pushed back now by

81
00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:46,040
Speaker 1: about a month to allow Trump to remain in Washington

82
00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:48,680
Speaker 1: to oversee the war effort, which has of course become

83
00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,400
Speaker 1: the dominant focus of US foreign policy, overshadowing trade and

84
00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:56,359
Speaker 1: diplomatic priorities. Officials say the delay is not linked to

85
00:04:56,440 --> 00:05:00,480
Speaker 1: trade tensions, although negotiations between the two countries are continuing.

86
00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,560
Speaker 1: And that's it for the Afternoon Report for Tuesday, the

87
00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,680
Speaker 1: seventeenth of March. Make sure you're following the podcast, and

88
00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,160
Speaker 1: please head along to Fearandgreed dot com dot au to

89
00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,400
Speaker 1: sign up for our free daily newsletter. I'm Michael Thompson.

90
00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:13,440
Speaker 1: Enjoy your eating