Market Snapshot and Key Australian Business News

Market snapshot

D By Daniel Ziffer

ASX 200 futures: +0.03% to 8,813 points

Australian dollar: +0.04% to 69.5 US cents

Dow Jones: +0.3% to 53,055.9 points

S & P 500: +0.7% to 7,537 points

Nasdaq: +1.1% to 26,121 points

FTSE: -0.2% to 10,651 points

EuroStoxx: -0.4% to 650 points

Spot gold: -0.2% to $US4,163/ounce

Brent crude: -0.1% to $US72.07/barrel

Iron ore: +0.5% to $US98.25/tonne

Bitcoin: +1% to $US64,246

Prices current around 7:30am AEDT.

Live updates on the major ASX indices:

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Controversial WiseTech global chair Richard White to stand down, but stick around

D By Daniel Ziffer

In a statement to the stock exchange, the tech company says it is appointing a new independent chair, Raelene Murphy "with immediate effect".

Co-founder Richard White will remain on the board as an executive director and as 'Chief Innovation Officer'.

In the statement, Mr White referred to "recent personal media attention... creating an unnecessary distraction from the strength of the WiseTech business".

What he's referring to is claims in June by Nine newspapers, that reported the Australian Federal Police were investigating allegations of human trafficking.

He denies all allegations.

At the time, in a statement to the ASX, WiseTech noted the media commentary.

"The media reports that the alleged investigation relates to Richard White in a personal capacity," it said.

"There is no suggestion in this media commentary of an investigation into WiseTech.

"The Company is not aware of any investigation as outlined in the article.

"The Executive Chair [Richard White] has provided assurance to the board that he is not aware of any such investigation and also confirmed that he emphatically and unequivocally denies any involvement in or with human trafficking."

In today's statement the new chair says the claims are "totally at odds" with her personal experience of working with Mr White.

In 2024 the board commissioned a review into allegations relating to Mr White - which appeared to centre on consensual sexual relations with women who he had interacted with on social media platform LinkedIn. The findings were released to the market.

(What is all this about? There's a link to an explainer, below).

WiseTech appoints independent chair but White to remain on board

S By Stephanie Chalmers

Some more detail from WiseTech's announcement — Richard White will remain on the board as an executive director and continue in his role as chief innovation officer.

An independent chair Raelene Murphy has been appointed.

WiseTech Global's Richard White has stepped down as chair

D By Daniel Ziffer

More to come.

EFT flurry, with 72 added to the ASX in a year

D By Daniel Ziffer

Great repot from my colleague David Taylor, which you can watch below or read here.

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) added a record 72 exchange traded funds (ETFs) to its boards last financial year, up from 50 listings the previous 12 months.

ETFs are pooled investment funds that typically follow an index or a sector. They have risen in popularity in recent years, with $350 billion under management.

More ETFs are also swapping hands with trading activity up 26 per cent compared to the previous 12 months.

"There has been a surge in both the creation of ETFs as well as the uptake of ETFs," said Betashares chief executive officer Alex Vynokur.

ASX senior manager Rory Cunningham said there was widespread interest in ETFs from younger investors, high net worth investors and self-managed super funds. ETFs are easily accessible and affordable, but analysts warn these investments come with risk.

Forager Funds chief investment officer Steve Johnson said a lot of investor enthusiasm was around technology and, specifically, AI-related ETFs, which in some cases was no different to gambling, set up to allow investors to bet on the latest, hottest trend.

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Netwealth an early mover, up +3%

D By Daniel Ziffer

In the delightfully circular world of financial services, firm Netwealth is listed on the stock exchange.

That means it has to update the market, as it has today.

In the news it has signed a client, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Australia, to provide some tech to it, and expects the "net flow" of funds it will be managing this financial year to be $15.4 billion.

The year after? $18B-$20B, which would be an increase of 17%-30% on this current year.

The shares have the company worth a staggering $5 billion in its own right, as a tech company, superannuation fund and a business that does the administration for others in finance.

Deloitte Access Economics grim forecast, cuts growth

D By Daniel Ziffer

What's hitting Australia's prospects of economic growth?

No biggie, just:

rising interest rates

weak consumer and business confidence

stalling housing investment

a prolonged cost-of-living crisis

A new outlook from Deloitte Access Economics details the view of the "Big Four" firm, which is decidedly grim.

Headline CPI may remain above 4% for the remainder of the calendar year, with underlying inflation edging higher as the oil shock works through supply chains, peaking in early 2027 before returning to target in 2028.

Interest rates will likely rise by 25 basis points in August followed by a 12-month pause before normalising inflation allows the RBA to ease monetary policy late next year.

The unemployment rate will average 4.9% in 2026-27 and may peak at 5% across 2027-28, before falling slightly as lower inflation and interest rate cuts stimulate the labour market.

Overall, Deloitte Access Economics currently expects the Australian economy to grow by 2.2% in 2025-26, 1.3% in 2026-27 and 1.9% in 2027-28 — a decrease on prior forecasts of 2.4%, 1.9% and 2.0%, respectively.

And here's why, with a quote from partner and report author Stephen Smith that's worth reading in full:

"Australia's growth outlook has deteriorated over the past six months. The economy is still expanding, but growth has slowed and the outlook has become more fragile. Inflation has reaccelerated, interest rates have moved higher, and the oil price shock triggered by conflict in the Middle East is not yet fully resolved.

"To date, 2026 has revealed the vulnerabilities that have developed within the Australian economy over recent history. Australia is now structurally exposed in ways that have become hard to ignore. Deloitte Access Economics has rarely adopted such a downbeat assessment of the short-term outlook.

"For too long, strong population growth has masked a weak underlying productivity performance and lifted aggregate growth while doing less to improve living standards. Years of insufficient investment in housing, infrastructure, energy and the economy's productive capacity have left the supply side of the economy struggling to keep pace with demand.

"The result is an economy more prone to inflation pressures at lower rates of growth. Meanwhile, the Middle East conflict has been another reminder that as a small open economy with a concentrated export base, Australia is highly sensitive to geopolitical disruption, shifts in global demand and commodity prices, and the security of trade routes.

"The interaction of geopolitical exposure, weak productivity, stretched household balance sheets and a constrained supply side was easy to overlook when interest rates were low, commodity prices were high and population growth kept aggregate growth ticking along. They are harder to dismiss now that inflation is sticky, investment needs are rising and the global environment is more uncertain.

"With oil prices retreating to levels close to those seen before the Strait of Hormuz was closed, Australia – and the rest of the world – appears to have avoided a worst-case scenario. But with the focus turning back to the domestic environment, the picture is hardly reassuring."

ASX 200 opens lower in early trade

D By Daniel Ziffer

The market has just opened for trading and the flagship ASX 200 index is marginally down.

It tracks the value of the 200 largest listed companies in the nation.

It's off -0.07% or 6.5 points to 8,824 points.

Indian PM here this week

D By Daniel Ziffer

Will be big news when the plane lands, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Australia this week for the first time since 2023.

Sure there will be chats with our PM Anthony Albanese covering defence, trade and education, but there's a bigger question:

Now we've got so many successful Indian-Australians, why don't we have stronger trade links with the country?

Professor Vikas Kumar from the University of Sydney Business School has put this out ahead of the visit.

“The real question is not whether Australia is interested in India. It is whether Australian firms have the capability to engage India seriously. India is no longer only a market to enter – it is a strong partner for building capability across technology, AI, services, clean energy, education and talent.

"India should not be treated as the next China. Australian firms need a specific India strategy, not a recycled China strategy. The Modi visit will generate enthusiasm, but enthusiasm is not enough. Australia needs deeper India literacy, stronger partnerships, and better state-level understanding.”

Something to think about.

Are there crates of banknotes in Australian garages? Seemingly, yes

D By Daniel Ziffer

Fascinating read yesterday, which you can watch at the link below.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) prints billions of dollars worth of banknotes every year, printing $2 billion worth of $100 notes.

But $100 notes are a rare sight in the tap-and-go economy.

So where are they?

ABC's Story Lab reporter Julian Fell has been investigating this.

He says of all the transactions in Australia, cash is used in about one in five of them. The RBA has done some research into where Australia's cash goes. It estimates between 9 and 14 per cent of Australia's cash is used in legitimate transactions, around 5 to 9 per cent is either lost or destroyed. Then money is hoarded either here or overseas, and/or ends up in the shadow economy.

"So if you look at those numbers and you go and add them all up, you'll realise that doesn't actually come to 100 per cent," Mr Fell says.

"That's only accounting for about 70% of Australia's cash."

He says even after accounting for lost, stolen or destroyed notes, criminal activity, and hoarding — both domestically and internationally — about $32 billion worth of banknotes are still unaccounted for.

There are calls for the higher denomination notes to be phased out (as has happened in the EU) to make money laundering and smuggling more difficult and expensive.

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Reporting into superannuation 'lead generation' details harms

D By Daniel Ziffer

"Lead generation" has gone from being niche marketing chat to a political hot potato since the collapse of two super funds and $1 billion being lost.

Regulators are now looking into the practice.

Adding to the evidence, the Consumer Action Law Centre has published a new report (below) that outlines the practice and what it can lead to.

Here's what it says:

Manipulative lead generation is the capture, use and sale of people's personal information to sell them a product. 'Consent' for personal details to be used is generated in opaque and manipulative ways, if it exists at all. People do not understand what they've consented to and in most cases have no idea which companies are holding, buying and using their information.

It's not like advertising, says Consumer Action's assistant director, policy and campaigns Eleanor Doran:

"Manipulative lead generation is unlike traditional advertising, where the link between an advertisement and the business selling the product is clear.

"People think they are entering their details online for a certain purpose, only to find themselves facing aggressive marketing, or even a doorknock, from an unfamiliar business who has bought this information."

Lead generation played a significant role in the collapse of First Guardian and Shield Master Funds, where 11,000 Australians lost over $1 billion. First Guardian and Shield collectively paid approximately $105 million to lead generators who referred victims to financial advisors who convinced investors to move their retirement savings into the high-risk funds.

The report calls for banning lead generation in high-risk sectors, the expanding of the Unfair Trading Practices prohibition to cover financial products, regulating lead generation advertising on digital platforms and strengthening consent and disclosure requirements.

First new steel mill in 30 years set to open

D By Daniel Ziffer

A $500 million investment in a new steel mill on the site of BHP's former Newcastle Steelworks will bring domestic steelmaking back to the Hunter region of NSW.

The all-electric mill is expected to be operational by January 2028, according to Greensteel Australia, which is announcing the plans.

It claims the mill will be the first in the country to run entirely on electricity, with no gas used anywhere in the process.

Here's Greensteel Australia Chief Executive Officer Romany Ibrahim:

"Australia stopped building steel mills a generation ago. Thanks to the leadership of the NSW and Federal Governments, we're building again.

"They've made it possible to bring manufacturing home to Newcastle, where Australian steelmaking began and where it never should have left."

The mill will produce up to 600,000 tonnes of finished steel per year for the housing, transport and energy sectors.

How will it work? (We send ships full of coking coal to power smelters to get the heat required to turn iron ore into steel.)

It's "electric induction furnace technology".

In a traditional mill, steel is heated in massive gas-fired furnaces that are inherently carbon-intensive.

The company says it has an "innovative design the mill will tap into renewable energy grids".

Refurbishment of the site will begin before the end of this year.

The mill is expected to be operational by January 2028, with reinforcing bar the first product and wire rod and coil planned for future stages.

ICYMI: House prices set to keep falling, says HSBC

D By Daniel Ziffer

What's going to happen to house prices?

HSBC's chief economist in Australia, Paul Bloxham yesterday released a pretty searing note. Here are the top lines:

"Last week's monthly figures for June showed that national housing prices are falling solidly. This is just the beginning.

"The recent big shifts in tax policy concerning investment properties, as well as the RBA's earlier three rate hikes, have rapidly sapped investor demand from the market.

"As we see it, first home buyers and other owner