ASX live updates: All the latest news from company reporting season on the Australian market

Michele Bullock has warned that the Reserve Bank won’t step in to rescue share markets if bullish investors come unstuck.

The RBA governor’s comments came after cutting interest rates on Tuesday for the third time this year, which helped the ASX200 touch a fresh record high of 8891 points.

That represents a whopping 21 per cent gain since the April turmoil caused by US President Donald Trump’s trade tax hikes.

Ms Bullock has made it clear that it won’t be the RBA’s job to jump in and prop up traders in the event the market turns south — unless there are wider financial stability worries.

“(We’re) not going to come in just for the sake of protecting asset prices,” Ms Bullock said on Tuesday.

“We don’t aim at asset prices. We are focused on inflation and employment.”

Read the full story here.

The average new loan size for owner-occupiers has hit a record high of $678,000.

The data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ lending indicators for the June quarter showed a $18,000 rise since the March and June quarter, fuelled by the RBA’s February and May cash rate cuts.

That equates to an estimated increase of $198 a day.

NSW has the largest average new loan size for owner-occupiers at $816,000, a new record for the State, after a rise of $21,000 between the March and June quarters.

WA hit a record high of $620,000, recording the biggest growth of the States and Territories in both percentage and dollar terms, with an increase of $26,000 - or 4 per cent - in just one quarter.

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Other States hitting record-high average new loan sizes were Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. All data is in original terms and rounded to the nearest $1000.

And yesterday’s third round of relief from the RBA is set to fuel the flames.

As rates fall, homebuyers have capacity to borrow even more.

Analysis by Canstar shows that a single person earning the average full-time wage, as recorded by the ABS, could potentially borrow an additional $12,000 from the bank, as a result of the cash rate cut.

Read more ​here​.

Netflix has announced another round of price hikes for Australian customers, marking its sixth increase since launching locally in 2015.

All subscription tiers will see changes, hitting users as soon as September, 2025.

For Aussie’s already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, the once ad-free, paid service now has paid ad-supported offerings as well as premium packages to watch shows and movies uninterrupted.

Read more here.

Australia’s wage price index rose 0.8 per cent in the June quarter, according to data released the Australian Bureau of Statistics this morning.

The rise was just shy of the previous quarter’s 0.9 per cent jump and took annual growth to a seasonally adjusted 3.4 per cent.

ABS head of prices statistics Michelle Marquardt said annual wage growth was unchanged from the 3.4 per cent rise seen in the March quarter but was down from the 4.1 per cent growth at the same time last year.

“The share of wage changes greater than 4 per cent has declined since this time last year,” Ms Marquardt said.

“The smaller proportion of jobs with larger wage increases has contributed to lower overall wage growth.”

Seasonally adjusted quarterly private sector wages rose 0.8 per cent in the June quarter while public sector wages rose one per cent.

“This quarter’s lift in the public sector reflected backdated pay rises from recently approved State-based enterprise agreements coming into effect, coupled with regular scheduled pay increases.” Ms Marquardt said.

“Both the private and the public sectors had lower annual wage growth compared to the June quarter 2024.

“Wages in the private sector grew 3.4 per cent over the previous 12 months, lower than the 4.1 per cent growth recorded in the year to June 2024.

“Annual public sector wage growth was at 3.7 per cent this quarter compared to 3.9 per cent at the same time last year.”

The US government’s budget deficit grew nearly 20 per cent in July to $US291 billion ($446b) despite a nearly $US21b jump in customs duty collections from President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the Treasury Department says.

The deficit for July was up 19 per cent, or $US47b, from July 2024. Receipts for the month grew 2 per cent, or $US8b, to $US338b, while outlays jumped 10 per cent, or $US56b, to $US630b - a record high for the month.

The month of July this year had fewer business days than last year, so the Treasury Department said that adjusting for the difference would have increased receipts by about $US20 billion, resulting in a deficit of about $US271b.

Net customs receipts in July grew to about $US27.7b from about $US7.1b in the year-earlier period due to higher tariff rates imposed by Trump, a Treasury official said.

These collections were largely in line with the increase in June customs receipts after steady growth since April.

Read the full report here.

Aussie shares soared to fresh record highs this morning, hitting 8890.5 points in the first few minutes of trade before falling back as investors digested the results of market bellwether Commonwealth Bank.

The country’s biggest home loan lender is now worth a staggering $300b, driven by a seemingly inexplicable appetite for the stock which has some market watchers questioning its lofty valuation.

Its stock was down 4 per cent to $171.71 after reporting a 4 per cent jump in profit to $10.25b.

Treasury Wine Estates’ return to China with its top-shelf, powerhouse Penfolds label has delivered a healthy surge in full-year profit.

Net profit before material items was 15.5 per cent higher than the previous financial year at $470.6 million.

Earnings were 17 per cent higher at $770.3m, thanks to a 13.2 per cent rise in Penfolds earnings.

“The result was driven by strong growth in Bin & Icon portfolio shipments to China as part of the return of the Australian country-of-origin portfolio to that market, partially offset by lower shipments to other key markets, as allocations were managed in the period to support China growth,” the company said today.

But TWE warned of trouble head in China, where it noted since June a shift in alcohol consumption behaviour “as preferences and occasions evolve from large scale banqueting to smaller scale business and lifestyle-oriented occasions”.

Treasury Americas reported a near 34 per cent increase in earnings to $308.6m, driven by Luxury portfolio growth with a full-year contribution from its Daou Vineyards business in California.

“While we continued to face headwinds in a number of markets, we remained laser-focused on executing our business plans, further strengthening the business for long-term growth and achieving strong financial performance, underpinned by Penfolds’ continued momentum and integrating DAOU into our Luxury portfolio,” said CEO Tim Ford.

Evolution Mining has booked record earnings and profit for the full year and will more than double its final payout to investors.

The Lawrie Conway-led miner today reported both statutory and underlying profit hit new heights at $926 million (up 119 per cent) and $958m (up 99 percent), respectively.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation came in at a record $2.2 billion, up 46 per cent.

The board will deliver a final fully franked dividend of 13c a share - up from 5c last year.

“The record financial performance in FY25 was achieved through safely delivering to plan across all of our operations,” Mr Conway said.

“This is a great credit to the efforts of our employees and contractors who I sincerely thank for their achievements.

“Our cost and production performance in the year saw our balance sheet continue to strengthen, with gearing levels falling while successfully delivering several major capital projects.”

Evolution operates the Cowal gold mine in NSW, along with several other assets on the east coast. It also counts the Mungari hub in WA’s Goldfields as part of its portfolio.

It achieved an average realised gold price of $4300 an ounce in the financial year, up 35 per cent as the precious metal hit multiple records on safe haven demand amid Donald Trump’s global tariffs attack in April.

It is tipping high cash flow will extend into FY26 and it is targeting full-year production of between 710,000 and 780,000oz at all-in cost of between $1720 and $1880/oz.

“Cash flow will be generated from the combination of the quality portfolio, sector leading cost position, exposure to copper, disciplined capital allocation, and the outlook for commodity prices, with the gold spot price $800 per ounce above the FY25 achieved price,” it said.

Unions are pushing for a shorter working week at next week’s economic summit, as the prime minister says there’s room for bold ideas at the roundtable.

The ACTU will call for a four-day week in sectors that can support it, arguing that this will allow workers to benefit from productivity gains and technological advances.

It will further argue that reducing working hours, from a standard five days a week, is key to lifting living standards.

“Shorter working hours are good for both workers and employers,” ACTU president Michele O’Neil said in a statement on Wednesday.

“They deliver improved productivity and allow working people to live happier, healthier and more balanced lives.”

Workers in sectors that would not be able to support a four-day week could be given “more time off or fairer rosters”, Ms O’Neil said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he’s open to suggestions to boost productivity at the summit and the government is ready for big reform.

“I’m up for big reform and we are a big reforming government,” Mr Albanese told ABC radio on Wednesday.

“We have a big agenda ... we’re also up for ideas and we’re up for things that can be done immediately.

“Of course, if they will improve the economy, then of course we’ll give it consideration.”

Read the full report here.

Interest rate and tax cuts, combined with lower inflation, have given households more money to spend, a major bank says, after posting a huge annual profit on the back of better economic conditions.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia this morning announced a $10.25 billion cash profit for 2024/25, up 4 per cent on the previous financial year.

Its bottom line result was broadly in line, at $10.1b to reflect an 8 per cent improvement.

The boosted profit was driven by lending volume growth, a stable underlying net interest margin and lower loan impairment, offset by higher operating expenses.

CBA will pay a $2.60 final dividend, taking its total payout for the year to $4.85 per share, up 4 per cent from a year ago.

CEO Matt Comyn said the bank maintained a “prudent balance sheet”, which helped it withstand uncertainty and volatility over the year.

“The operating context has been characterised by a rise in global macroeconomic uncertainty, increased geopolitical risk and continued domestic competitive intensity,” he said in a statement.

The bank’s operating expenses weighed in at $12.9 billion in the year to June 30, for a rise of 6 per cent.

Higher operating costs were driven by inflation, a $900 million technology investment to handle the rise in scam and fraud activity, and more frontline lenders.

But economic conditions are improving with cost-of-living pressures easing, Mr Comyn said.

“Many households have seen a rise in disposable incomes due to the recent relief from reduced interest rates, lower inflation and tax cuts,” he added.

Read the full report here.