Markets

The founder of one of Australia’s biggest bedding retailers says those who put up their prices in a high inflation environment risk going broke.

US shares swung higher after reports of a potential new 60-day peace deal in the Middle East as Australian shares aim to avoid three straight days of losses.

Global share markets are dividing between winners linked to an AI boom and strugglers being hit by rising inflation or interest rates linked to the Middle East conflict.

A Labor plan to reduce investor incentives has been branded a ‘productivity tax’ as opponents call for lower taxes for those with money to put aside.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Stocks and oil prices have risen slightly, with few signs of concrete progress in talks to establish a peace deal between the United States and Iran.

Mexican fast-food chain Guzman Y Gomez has conceded defeat and will retreat from its ambition plans to conquer the US market.

Trillions of dollars of investment into the AI boom will lift inflation and wide the gap between winners and losers in a structural shift in share market returns.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: It would lay the groundwork for one of the largest artificial intelligence company offerings that would heighten the stakes of the technology race.

SpaceX has unveiled plans for one of the biggest sales of stock to the public ever with an initial offering that could make Elon Musk a trillionaire.

The ASX was up 0.8 per cent at midday, recovering from a seven-week low, after Donald Trump said he was scrapping plans for another attack on Iran.

The mysterious shareholding of Northern Minerals has again raised the ire of Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who has issued yet more disposal orders for the rare earths miner.

THE ECONOMIST: A historian along with a technology writer uncover the essence of Muskism.

Shares in the ASX-listed company behind big-box retailers BCF, Rebel and Supercheap Auto were hammered after it reported a soft trading update as consumers batten down the hatches.

The Reserve Bank has raised interest rates by another 25 basis points to 4.35 per cent, undoing last year’s relief. Governor Michele Bullock hinted at more pain and cautioned against higher government spending.

For borrowers, the question is not simply whether rates will rise again, but if paying for certainty now is worth the risk of being locked in later.