Afternoon Report | ASX closes down

Published Dec 18, 2024, 6:24 AM

This is the Fear and Greed Afternoon Report - everything you need to know about what happened in the markets, economy and world of business today, in just a few minutes. 

  1. MYEFO lands

  2. ASX closes down slightly

  3. FM Wong's 'heated' phone call

  4. New charges for Jones

  5. BHP – Vale case

Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report for Wednesday, the eighteenth of December twenty twenty four, Ah Michael Thompson. Every afternoon, we've got the five stories that happen today that you need to know about. So let's get going with story number one. The Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers today handed down the Midyear Economic and Fiscal Outlook MYIFO. It's called, and it shows a smaller deficit this financial year, but then a jump over the next three. The combined deficit over the next four years comes in at one hundred and forty four billion dollars. In terms of the economy and the various insights contained within my EFO, the government has downgraded its growth forecast this financial year to one point seventy five percent and then two point twenty five percent in twenty twenty five twenty six. It is forecasting ongoing easing of inflation and wage increases, with a steady pickup in the unemployment rate to four point five percent by the midde of next year. Doctor Chalmers said the economy is on track for a soft landing. Under story number two. Now, the local share market ended pretty flat today, with the S and p ASX two hundred closing down four point six points or just zero point zero six percent to eighty three hundred and nine points. I'd call that reasonably flat. Best performer on the burse was by now Pay Later operator Zipco, up more than seven percent. There was a bit of corporate activity going on. Vulcan Energy signed a one point four billion dollar loan commitment with Export Finance Australia and a group of seven commercial banks for the financing of its Lion Heart project in Germany, which is undeniably a very cool name for a project. Mineral Resources has completed the sale of two exploration permits to Hancock Prospecting for seven hundred and eighty million dollars, and Insignia told shareholders today that it was rejecting private equity giant Baine Capital's four dollars her share bid because it quote does not adequately represent fair value for them. Its share price ended down more than four percent today, one of the worst performers on the BOSS. On to story number three. Now. Foreign Minister Penny Wong has been accused of abandoning Israel in the wake of the October seven her Maas terror attack. During a heated phone call with her Israeli counterpart. The Financial Review report, Senator Wong had a quote heated verbal argument over the phone with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sah, who apparently said that Australia had weakened its support for Israel quote in its most difficult year when it has fought against its bitterest enemies. The report hasn't been confirmed by Penny Wong, and nor is it likely to be, as most of these types of diplomatic conversations are kept very much under wraps and rarely ever confirmed. Tensions have been growing between Israel and Australia after Australia voted on a series of United Nations General Assembly resolutions about peace in the Middle East, and Senator Wong also called for an international declaration of a Palestinian state. Story number four one from the court's high profile broadcaster, Alan Jones is facing eight new indecent assault charges relating to a tenth alleged victim. The eighty three year old faced a court in Sydney yesterday for the first time over the allegations. He was already facing twenty six charges relating to offenses allegedly committed between June two thousand and one and December twenty nineteen. According to the Cydny Morning Herald, Jones was arrested at his apartment in Circular Key on November eighteen. He has now been charged with eleven counts of aggravated in decent assault, nineteen counts of assault with an active indecency, two counts of sexually touching another person without consent, and two counts of common assault. Yesterday, outside court, he was sworn at and heckled by a crowd surrounding the media. Jones said he will plead not guilty to the charges and welcomed the opportunity to clear his name. Finally, story number five, four Brazilian municipalities joined in litigation pursuing BHP for eighteen billion pounds in the British courts have quit the high profile class action. This relates to the Somaco Damn disaster back in twenty fifteen that killed nineteen people, destroyed towns and infrastructure in Brazil. The exit of the municipalities comes less than eight weeks after BHP and its Somaco partners struck an alternative deal valued at thirty one point seven billion US dollars or about fifty billion ossie. That was a compensation deal that was struck with the Brazilian government. According to a report in the Financial Review, citizens, municipalities and businesses who were affected by the disaster now essentially have to choose whether to sign up for the compensation deal struck between the Brazilian government BHP and its Somaco partner of Valet, or take their chances on possible compensation through through the British class action. That's it for the afternoon report for Wednesday, the eighteenth of December twenty twenty four. Make sure you hit follow on the podcast and we'll be back tomorrow morning with the Thursday edition of Fear and Greed. I'm Michael Thompson. Enjoy your evening.