1 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:08,960 Speaker 1: for Thursday, the first of August twenty twenty four. I'm 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,680 Speaker 1: sure in Aelma every afternoon. We've got the five stories 4 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: that happened today that you need to know about. Story 5 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: number one. The SMPA six two hundred closed up zero 6 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: point three percent today to eight hundred and fifteen points, 7 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:22,759 Speaker 1: pushing through that eighty one hundred point mark for the 8 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: first time. In early morning trading, the market hit as 9 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,240 Speaker 1: high as eighty one forty five points. There was a 10 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: bunch of stocks that were doing okay, although some of 11 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: them faded later in the day. The rise comes after 12 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: the better than expected inflation figures yesterday. National Australia Bank 13 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: ended the day down more than one percent. That was 14 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: about the worst of the lot. Commonwealth Bank was off 15 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: zero point seven percent at least were the worst of 16 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: the large caps. It was a tech stocks and real 17 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: estate investment trust that did best. Goodman Group jump three 18 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: point six percent. Zero was up two percent Rio following 19 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: its bumper profit yesterday jump two percent, while Woodside and 20 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: Willis also did well. In corporate news, Australian Indigenous leader, 21 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: social advocate and lawyer Noel Pearson has joined the board 22 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: of iron Or minor Fortescue as a non executive director. 23 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 1: Australia's competition watchdogs and it won't oppose Louis Drefus's proposed 24 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:15,960 Speaker 1: acquisition of Nemoy Cotton, despite concerns the deal could lessen 25 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: competition in the supply of cotton ginning services in the 26 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: north Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Memoy's share price 27 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,680 Speaker 1: jumped six percent today, and defense technology group Drone Shield 28 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:28,040 Speaker 1: completed its one hundred and twenty million dollar capital rays 29 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: and began training again. The share price was down fifteen percent. 30 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: Story number two. The Federal Reserve has said it could 31 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: start lowering interest rates in the world's largest economy as 32 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,760 Speaker 1: soon as September, after holding borrowing costs at a twenty 33 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:44,840 Speaker 1: three year high for eight meetings in a row. The 34 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: FED chair J Powell said there'd been a real discussion 35 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 1: at the FED Open Market Committee about cutting rates. In 36 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: the US, the FOMC flagged further progress towards luring inflation 37 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: to its two percent goal, but it maintained that officials 38 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: would need even greater confidence for their willing to cut. However, 39 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: markets have now priced in a cut in September significantly. 40 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: Mister Powell noted that the FED does not need to 41 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 1: see further weakening across the labor market to believe it 42 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 1: has a handle on inflation. Story number three Albumar, the 43 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: world's largest lithium producer, will cut three hundred jobs from 44 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: its Australian operations and slow down its production of the commodity. Today, 45 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: the group said it will stop constructing the third production 46 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:28,959 Speaker 1: unit at its Chemeton facility south of Perth and put 47 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: the second unit into care and maintenance. Instead, it will 48 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: focus on ramping up Unit one within the lithium hydroxide 49 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: processing facility. It follows the sharp drop in lithium spotamine prices, 50 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: which are down eighty eight percent from their peak back 51 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two. Western Australia has now lost around 52 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 1: seven thousand jobs in the nickel and lithium industries since 53 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: prices of both commodities started tumbling. Story number four Meta 54 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: founder Mark Zuckerberg said strengthen the group's core advertising business 55 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: will allow the company to continue spending heavily on artificial 56 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: and telligence next year and beyond, triggering an eight percent 57 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: jump and its share price overnight. The company's Meta AI 58 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 1: chatbot was also on track to become the most used 59 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: AI assistant in the world by the end of the year, 60 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 1: mister Zuckerberg said. He also said that while products such 61 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: as chatbots would increase engagement with metas platform, it would 62 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: take years for the monetization of any of those things 63 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: by themselves. Revenue at the social media group jump twenty 64 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:28,119 Speaker 1: two percent to thirty nine billion dollars in the three 65 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: months to the end of June. That was better than 66 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: people had forecasts. Net income at Meta, which of course 67 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: includes Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, rose seventeen three percent the 68 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: third and and a half billion dollars and finally, story 69 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: number five not so what to make it this one? 70 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: Donald Trump has questioned Vice President Carmela Harris's identity as 71 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:50,279 Speaker 1: a black woman in front of an audience of black journalists, 72 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: suggesting his opponent for the presidency had adopted her racial 73 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: profile as a way to gain a political advantage. In 74 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: comments that were jeered by the audience, mister Trump said, 75 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: and quote, she was Indian all the way, and then 76 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, she made a turn and she 77 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,119 Speaker 1: became a black person. End of quote. Miss Harris's mother 78 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: is Indian American, her father is Jamaican. Miss Harris has 79 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: always identified as a black woman. According to The New 80 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: York Times, Now, mister Trump's remarks prompted guts and jeers 81 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 1: from the audience of the National Association of Black Journalists 82 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: in Chicago. The former president's combative appearance was one of 83 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: the more unusual of the campaign so far, as he 84 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,280 Speaker 1: sparred with reporters of a diversity efforts, repeated falsehoods about 85 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: a range of subjects, and told the group that he 86 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: was the best president for the black population since Abraham Lincoln. 87 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: That's it for the Afternoon Report for Thursday, the first 88 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:43,360 Speaker 1: of August twenty twenty four. Michael Thompson and I will 89 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: be back tomorrow morning with a Friday edition off Fear 90 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,160 Speaker 1: and Greed business news. I'm sure and I Alma enjoy 91 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: your evening.