Markets

Shares in shipbuilder Austal have been scuttled in the opening minutes of trade on Friday following reports of an embarrassing accounting blunder that looks set to sink its full-year profit result.

The lender said its profits grew as costs fell but revenues largely flat.

An accelerating crash in tech stocks was disguised by record highs for ANZ Bank, alongside miners BHP and Rio Tinto on Thursday.

ANZ Bank’s CEO said his transformation plan is on track and touted its first quarter results as proof on Thursday morning.

Australia’s central bank chief Michele Bullock tried to shut down questioning at a tense Senate committee appearance where a Liberal senator likened her to a social media influencer.

Evolution Mining stock was on a tear after doubling half-year net profit to $767 million and adding an extra 13¢ to shareholder spoils, setting the scene for another bumper season for gold miners.

AGL Energy will slice off its fledgling telco arm in a $115 million deal that will give the power company an equity stake in Aussie Broadband.

Struggling pizza giant Domino’s has tapped former McDonald’s Australia and New Zealand boss Andrew Gregory to take on the top job afterMarkvanDyck’s abrupt exit.

SGH generated strong cash flow growth to start the 2026 financial year, giving the conglomerate renewed hunger for acquisitions and internal expansion opportunities.

Actions speak louder than words, with investors continuing to sell Atlassian stock despite its founder declaring that he ‘couldn’t be more bullish’.

Some of Australia’s leading stock pickers have focused on AI, data centre and computer chip as the best bets for investors to profit from the market’s current dip and create long-term wealth.

Some investors worry personal AI agents will soon shop for properties, jobs or cars on your behalf, cutting traffic to popular websites may slow. Experts have a different theory.

Gold and silver investment funds in Australia are seeing record interest from ordinary mum-and-dad investors that are also contributing to unprecedented global volatility in metals prices.

In a Thursday morning earnings call the CEO of Google-parent Alphabet said software companies can use AI to enhance their businesses and had one big warning around AI’s development.

Software stocks have plunged 8 per cent on fears the industry will be disrupted by artificial intelligence.