1
00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,040
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report

2
00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:09,920
Speaker 1: for Wednesday, the fourth of March twenty twenty six. Oh

3
00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:12,479
Speaker 1: Michael Thompson, and every afternoon we've got the five stories

4
00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:14,560
Speaker 1: that happened today that you need to know about. Let's

5
00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:16,640
Speaker 1: go with story number one. It is a big one.

6
00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:19,279
Speaker 1: The S and PA Sex two hundred plunge nearly two

7
00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,920
Speaker 1: percent today. It was down one point nine percent by

8
00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:25,759
Speaker 1: the close as global markets reacted to fears that the

9
00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,360
Speaker 1: Middle East conflicts could widen. It triggered a broad sell off,

10
00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:33,960
Speaker 1: with all eleven sectors finishing lower. We weren't alone. It

11
00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:38,720
Speaker 1: as a meltdown across Asian markets. Locally, sixty three billion

12
00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:41,720
Speaker 1: dollars in value was wiped on the local course today.

13
00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,320
Speaker 1: Materials and mining stocks were among the hardest hit. Gold

14
00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:47,600
Speaker 1: Mine has dropped despite the price of the precious metal

15
00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,879
Speaker 1: rising one and a half percent. Newmont, West Gold Resources,

16
00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:54,480
Speaker 1: West African Resources all suffered big dips today. The iron

17
00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,240
Speaker 1: ore miners had a tough one to BHP down three

18
00:00:57,320 --> 00:00:59,880
Speaker 1: and a half percent, four dieskew off three percent, Rio

19
00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:03,560
Speaker 1: Tinto down one point six percent. As iron ore. The

20
00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,319
Speaker 1: price of iron ore slipped below one hundred US dollars

21
00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:10,800
Speaker 1: a ton, banks and property stocks also retreated. The big

22
00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,840
Speaker 1: four lenders were all down more than one percent today.

23
00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:17,560
Speaker 1: A and Zed actually was off nearly four percent. Goodman Group,

24
00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:22,120
Speaker 1: the property company, fell three point seven percent. This is

25
00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:23,679
Speaker 1: a similar story. We've talked about this over the last

26
00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:27,920
Speaker 1: couple of days that rising oil prices have lifted inflation concerns.

27
00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,760
Speaker 1: The chance of an interest rate hikesoon has also increased

28
00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,880
Speaker 1: today with the release of the latest GDP data, which

29
00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,080
Speaker 1: showed that the economy grew at its fastest pace in

30
00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,080
Speaker 1: almost three years in the December quarter. We'll have more

31
00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:43,920
Speaker 1: on that one in tomorrow morning show on just story

32
00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,400
Speaker 1: number two now and the first commercial flight carrying Australians

33
00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,680
Speaker 1: out of the Middle East since the conflict escalated has

34
00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,640
Speaker 1: departed Dubai for Sydney, as thousands of travelers remained stranded

35
00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:59,160
Speaker 1: across the region. Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed that Emirates

36
00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:03,520
Speaker 1: flight E four one four left Dubai this morning after

37
00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:08,240
Speaker 1: talks with UAE authorities aimed at restarting limited commercial flights.

38
00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,160
Speaker 1: It is due to arrive in Australia this evening about

39
00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:14,040
Speaker 1: twenty four thousand Australians are believed to be in the UAE,

40
00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:17,000
Speaker 1: while as many as one hundred and fifteen thousand Aussies

41
00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,200
Speaker 1: are estimated to be caught up in the broader regional disruption.

42
00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,160
Speaker 1: Airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha have been closed

43
00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,079
Speaker 1: since the weekend after the military strikes in a run

44
00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:31,480
Speaker 1: triggered those attacks in retaliation across the Gulf, grounding thousands

45
00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:35,000
Speaker 1: of flights and creating what officials have described as an

46
00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:39,960
Speaker 1: unprecedented consular crisis. Story number three and back home here

47
00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:44,120
Speaker 1: where business groups and economists are warning that a union

48
00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:48,200
Speaker 1: push to lift the minimum annual leave entitlement to five

49
00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:54,160
Speaker 1: weeks could worsen inflation and increase productivity pressures as well.

50
00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:58,040
Speaker 1: It's coming from the ACTU, which is proposed at the change,

51
00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:01,000
Speaker 1: which would affect more than ten million, five full time workers.

52
00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,119
Speaker 1: It's come about as part of a parliamentary inquiry international

53
00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:08,160
Speaker 1: employment standards. According to The Financial Review, economist Warren Hogan

54
00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,239
Speaker 1: estimates that the move could lift labor costs by about

55
00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,760
Speaker 1: two percent, which businesses may then pass on to consumers

56
00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:18,840
Speaker 1: if productivity does not rise. The federal government says that

57
00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,920
Speaker 1: the proposal is not currently under consideration, though the inquiry

58
00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,320
Speaker 1: is continuing to hear submissions from unions and from employer groups.

59
00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:31,480
Speaker 1: Story number four, now in DEVA Groups, new chief executive

60
00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,240
Speaker 1: Jane Herdliker, plans to retain both its retail liquor business

61
00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,680
Speaker 1: and its hotels portfolio, saying this is the best option

62
00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,560
Speaker 1: for investors. There had been speculation that Endeavor may sell

63
00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,680
Speaker 1: the hotel's business to major investor Bruce Matheson. According to

64
00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:50,600
Speaker 1: the Financial Review. Herdlicker says that the group will continue

65
00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,480
Speaker 1: to focus on cutting prices at its Dan Murphy's store

66
00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:58,279
Speaker 1: and accelerate investment in its three hundred and fifty odd hotels.

67
00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,839
Speaker 1: Jane Herdlicker was speaking after Endeavor announced a slight rise

68
00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:03,880
Speaker 1: in sales and a drop in net profit for the

69
00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:06,680
Speaker 1: first half of this financial year. Heard thecker acknowledge that

70
00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:11,120
Speaker 1: momentum in both businesses has slowed in February compared to January,

71
00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:16,240
Speaker 1: and devashare price closed three point five percent lower today. Finally,

72
00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,760
Speaker 1: story number five, Apple has updated its MacBook Air and

73
00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:24,680
Speaker 1: MacBook Pro laptops with faster M five processes but higher

74
00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,560
Speaker 1: prices as the tech industry grapples with rising memory chip costs.

75
00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:31,920
Speaker 1: A consequence, of course of the AI boom. The new

76
00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:34,599
Speaker 1: MacBook Air will use the M five chip, while the

77
00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:36,880
Speaker 1: MacBook Pro will feature the M five Pro and M

78
00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:40,359
Speaker 1: five Max processes. This is all about faster performance improved graphics.

79
00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,840
Speaker 1: Prices have increased across the lineup, though Apple has also

80
00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:47,960
Speaker 1: doubled based storage on some models. There are memory chip

81
00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,400
Speaker 1: shortages that are pushing up costs right across the electronics industry,

82
00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:55,080
Speaker 1: and Bloomberg reports that Apple is really looking to revive

83
00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,680
Speaker 1: the Mac sales within the company following a six point

84
00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,440
Speaker 1: set seven percent decline during the last quarter. And that's

85
00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,719
Speaker 1: it for the afternoon report for Wednesday, the fourth of March.

86
00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:09,240
Speaker 1: Make sure you're following the podcast and head along to

87
00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:11,080
Speaker 1: Fear and Greed dot com Today you to sign up

88
00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,640
Speaker 1: for our free daily newsletter. I'm Michael Thompson. Enjoy your evening.

89
00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:17,320
Speaker 1: Hold on one second, look, I just need to check something.

90
00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,760
Speaker 1: There was a name. I'm assuming it was Bruce Matheson,

91
00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:27,800
Speaker 1: but I just Dan Murphy's