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Speaker 1: It's Monday, the first of September twenty twenty five. Welcome

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Speaker 1: to the Fast five Business News by Fear and Greed,

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Speaker 1: where we give you the top five business stories you

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Speaker 1: need to know in just five minutes. Are Michael Thompson

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Speaker 1: and Good Morning, Natalie McDonald. Good morning Michael, Natalie. We've

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Speaker 1: got five stories to race through in just five minutes.

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Speaker 1: Let's get cracking. Story number one. It is, of course,

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Speaker 1: as I mentioned, the first of September, which means it's

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Speaker 1: the first day of spring and Australia's spring selling season

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Speaker 1: just got another very big vote of confidence, with Cotalities

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Speaker 1: Home Value Index rising zero point seven percent in August.

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Speaker 1: That's in just one month, the strongest monthly gain since

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Speaker 1: May of last year, pushing annual house price growth to

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Speaker 1: four point one percent.

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Speaker 2: It's a big jump of follows three interest rate carts,

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Speaker 2: the latest of which was just a few weeks ago.

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Speaker 2: But alongside this, we've also seen stronger wages improved borrowing power,

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Speaker 2: with demand continuing to outpace tight supply. Advertised listings are

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Speaker 2: twenty percent below average, while auction clearance rates hit seventy percent.

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Speaker 2: That's the highest since early twenty twenty four. With buyers

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Speaker 2: facing limited choice, it's putting cellars in a pretty strong position.

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Speaker 2: Growth is geographically pretty broad, but the mis sized capitals

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Speaker 2: are leading the trend. Brisbane's up one point two percent,

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Speaker 2: per one point one, Adelaide point nine percent and Darwin

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Speaker 2: up one percent.

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Speaker 1: And we saw this in practice as well over the weekend,

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Speaker 1: with auction clearance rates really shaking off that slightly unexpected

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Speaker 1: inflation read last week that pretty much wiped out expectations

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Speaker 1: of a rate cut in September.

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Speaker 2: Across Australia's capital cities, the preliminary auction clearance rate climbed

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Speaker 2: to seventy six point three percent. To put that in context,

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Speaker 2: that's a full percentage point higher than just one week ago.

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Speaker 2: The result was driven by exceptionally strong growth in Sydney

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Speaker 2: at eighty point three percent, its highest level since April

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Speaker 2: of last year, Melbourne hitting seventy four point nine percent,

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Speaker 2: and Brisbane sixty four point five. Focus is now on

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Speaker 2: the Albanesi government's five percent deposit scheme for first home buyers,

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Speaker 2: which comes into effect on the first of October, so

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Speaker 2: not a million miles away, and those hopes for a

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Speaker 2: November rate cuts, so lots of stimula still to come

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Speaker 2: into the market.

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Speaker 1: Indeed, all right, moving on to story number two. Now,

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Speaker 1: earning season is done and dusted pretty much. Ninety five

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Speaker 1: percent of companies have reported results. But beyond the results themselves,

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Speaker 1: it's the volatile market swings that have really got us talking.

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Speaker 1: We had CSL suffering at steepest fall since nineteen ninety nine,

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Speaker 1: James Hardy's biggest drop since nineteen seventy four, and TAB

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Speaker 1: Corp climbing nearly twenty five percent. These are huge.

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Speaker 2: Moves if you zoom out. AMP notes that twenty nine

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Speaker 2: percent of companies beat expectations, thirty six percent of companies missed,

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Speaker 2: and thirty five percent were in line. That's above the

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Speaker 2: historical average and less say. The volatility that we're seeing

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Speaker 2: reflects the airsex is heavy concentration, where the top ten

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Speaker 2: companies account for almost the index. That leaves the market

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Speaker 2: pretty vulnerable. Any earnings disappointment of a major player can

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Speaker 2: trigger outsized moves, and it's been companies with US exposure

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Speaker 2: like Amcorp, Bluescope, and James Hardy that have really felt

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Speaker 2: this pretty keenly. While tech related businesses like Ria Group,

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Speaker 2: Car Group and seekh or had pretty solid earnings growth

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Speaker 2: reports ubs all right.

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Speaker 1: Moving on to story number three, thousands of people joined

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Speaker 1: March for Australia anti immigration rallies across Australia's capital cities,

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Speaker 1: also in some regional cities. This was happening yesterday, calling

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Speaker 1: for an end to mass migration.

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Speaker 2: Gatherings in Sydney and Adelaide were described as largely peaceful,

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Speaker 2: but authorities reported six arrests and two injured officers in Melbourne,

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Speaker 2: where clashes escalated and police used OC spray and public

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Speaker 2: order munitions. Those in attendants included One Nation leader Pauline

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Speaker 2: Hanson in Canberra, while her daughter Lee Hanson spoke in Hobart.

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Speaker 2: MP Bob Catter also addressed crowds in Townsville. The government

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Speaker 2: has condemned the anti immigration rallies, which it claims seek

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Speaker 2: to divide and undermine social cohesion.

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Speaker 1: Story number four. The federal government is moving to crack

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Speaker 1: down on shrink inflation here we go, where companies reduce

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Speaker 1: product sizes without actually cutting prices. After an Agriable c

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Speaker 1: inquiry found Australian supermarkets are among the world's most profitable.

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Speaker 2: Labor is set to begin a three week consultation with

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Speaker 2: industry and consumer comparison measures. That's for when you're looking

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Speaker 2: at a per one hundred grand price, but then some

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Speaker 2: items are per kilogram and it all gets very confusing.

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Speaker 2: In addition to expanding coverage of the unit price code

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Speaker 2: beyond major supermarkets, companies could be forced to notify shoppers

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Speaker 2: when products shrink, face public naming and risk caught impost

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Speaker 2: fines for non compliance. Assistant Minister of Productivity and Competition

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Speaker 2: Andrew Lee said Australians were fed up with paying the

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Speaker 2: same for less, citing smaller chocolate bars. That's always the

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Speaker 2: one that I think of, reduced toilet paper squares and

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Speaker 2: what's been labeled extra air in chip packets.

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Speaker 1: All right, last one story number five. The US Appeals

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Speaker 1: Court has ruled most of Donald Trump's tariffs are illegal,

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Speaker 1: really striking at the foundation of his trade war policies.

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Speaker 2: In a seven to four decision, judges said the former

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Speaker 2: president exceeded his authority by using emergency powers under the

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Speaker 2: International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose levies on imports

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Speaker 2: from countries including China, Canada and Mexico. The court noted

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Speaker 2: that the law does not explicitly authorize tariffs and that

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Speaker 2: Congress retains constitutional power over taxation and trade. Despite the ruling,

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Speaker 2: tariffs remain in effect until the fourteenth of October while

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Speaker 2: the Trump administration considers an appeal to the US Supreme Court.

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Speaker 2: Trump called the decision incorrect, insisting the duties remain a

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Speaker 2: crucial tool to protect American workers and industries.

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Speaker 1: All right, there we go, the top five business stories

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Speaker 1: in five minutes. Thank you very much, Natalie.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, Michael.

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Speaker 1: It is Monday, the first of September twenty twenty five.

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Speaker 1: I remember to hit follow on the podcast and in

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Speaker 1: five minutes just isn't long enough. You can find our

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Speaker 1: longer daily show called Fear and Greed wherever you listen

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Speaker 1: to podcasts. I'm Michael Thompson and that was the past

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Speaker 1: five business news by Fear and Greed. Have a great Dame,