News without the noise
Business news from Australia and around the world: companies, deals, earnings, regulation and the people running them.
1822 articles · page 22 of 38
Inflation fears among American consumers intensified in September, with the New York Federal Reserve’s monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations showing the median one-year inflation outlook rose to 3.9 percent, the highest level since May 2023. The increase of 0.3 percentage point from August reflects growing anxiety over surging energy costs and utility bills, even as longer-term expectations remain anchored.
A study from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has warned that the Labour government is on course to preside over the worst parliament for living standards in modern British history, with real household incomes projected to fall sharply by the end of the decade. The stark analysis comes three weeks before Chancellor John Healey delivers his budget.
· 2 sourcesSpaceX is in discussions with Apollo Capital Management and several banks to finance a $40 billion purchase of Nvidia graphics processing units, primarily through the investment-grade debt market, according to a person familiar with the talks. The deal would likely use the GPUs as collateral, with Apollo playing a leading role in facilitating the financing.
· 2 sourcesDisney announced Wednesday that its streaming service Disney+ will carry Super Bowl LXI alongside ESPN and ABC on February 14, 2027, marking the first time the company's flagship streamer will air the championship game. The broadcast will be available to all U.S. subscribers and in more than 55 international markets.
· 3 sourcesEuropean mobile operators have increased their share of smartphone sales, not from selling more devices but because the open market is shrinking faster, according to Counterpoint Research. Operator sales fell 4 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, while the open market — independent retailers and direct manufacturer sales — dropped 11 percent, lifting operator share from 35 to 36 percent.
Used vehicle prices fell more sharply than expected in the third quarter, and Cox Automotive has cut its full-year forecast, as record gas prices, rising interest rates and broader inflationary pressures hit American buyers while demand shifts toward fuel-efficient cars and electric vehicles.
· 2 sourcesBBC director general Matt Brittin faced a storm of staff criticism during an all-staff call on Wednesday, with employees accusing management of cutting frontline jobs while protecting a “very bloated” senior leadership. Brittin conceded the broadcaster would become smaller but insisted the changes would affect all levels and that the organisation could still have a bigger impact.
· 2 sourcesParamount Skydance has completed its roughly $110bn takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, bringing CNN and CBS News under the same corporate ownership in a deal that faced months of legal opposition and has raised concerns about editorial independence and freedom of speech.
· 2 sourcesPorsche said Wednesday it is steeling itself for persistently lower sales and presented a turnaround plan to investors that focuses on high-end sports cars and luxury SUVs to boost margins, as the Volkswagen brand faces weak demand in key markets like China and the United States.
The owner of South West Water has cut its dividend by about 30% and launched a £550m cash call to investors to fund infrastructure investment, weeks after being handed a record fine for hundreds of sewage spills across the region.
· 3 sourcesMcDonald's is facing a federal class-action lawsuit accusing it of using an AI tool that allegedly helps franchise locations coordinate menu pricing, in violation of antitrust laws, and has driven up prices for American customers.
A survey of 269 VMware user organizations has found that nine out of ten respondents are evaluating alternatives to the virtualization platform, with rising licensing costs cited as the primary factor driving the exodus. The study, conducted by Unisphere Research between December 2025 and February 2026 on behalf of third-party support provider Rimini Street, also revealed that 54 percent of respondents are reconsidering their VMware investments due to the end of perpetual license support.
Mortgage rates rose to their highest level in nearly three years last week, pushing total mortgage application volume down 4.2 per cent compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index.
US households that heat their homes with oil are projected to face average winter bills of $2,115, about 21% higher than last year, according to the Energy Information Administration's annual Winter Fuels Outlook released Tuesday. The agency expects heating oil to average $5.26 a gallon over the November to March heating season, a 34% jump from last winter, driven by an unusually tight global market for distillate fuels.
A bipartisan House Select Committee on China has found that digital investment platform Webull, which has 28 million global users, is structurally tied to China's government, posing a national security threat to American finance, according to a report released Wednesday.
Five former Barclays traders jailed for manipulating interbank interest rates have had their convictions overturned by the Court of Appeal, in a significant reversal of one of the most prominent prosecutions to emerge from the 2008 financial crisis.
· 5 sourcesJaguar has unveiled its first all-electric model, the Type 01, two years after a controversial rebrand sparked accusations of going 'woke'. The four-door Grand Tourer, priced from £130,000 ($130,500), boasts 1,000 horsepower and a 320-mile range, but social media reaction has been sharply divided.
Japanese competition authorities have raided the offices of the country's four biggest brewers — Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory — on suspicion they colluded to raise beer prices. The raids, confirmed by Asahi and Kirin, mark a significant escalation in the Fair Trade Commission's probe into the industry.
· 3 sourcesFinland's licensing and supervision agency has ordered Google to suspend construction on two data centers in Muhos and Kajaani, halting tree removal, excavation and other site work until environmental impact assessments are finished. The order comes a month after the tech giant announced a $15 billion AI infrastructure investment in the country.
· 2 sourcesSchools across Northern Ireland have been advised that staff and pupils should "wear more clothes" if it is cold, after the Education Authority told head teachers to cut heating and lighting "wherever possible" to offset rising energy bills projected to climb by about £8m by March 2027.
Royal Mail has announced plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs, primarily in head office and support functions, as it restructures to adapt to a sharp decline in letter deliveries and intense competition. The company said the cuts would be achieved through natural attrition and voluntary exit programmes with no compulsory redundancies and no reduction in frontline delivery or processing roles.
· 5 sourcesUK house prices flatlined in September, with the average cost of a home stuck at £298,441, according to the latest tracker from Lloyds, as rising mortgage costs and geopolitical uncertainty weighed on the market. Economists had forecast a modest monthly rise of 0.1% and an annual increase of 0.2%, but prices showed no movement from the previous month or from a year earlier.
· 3 sourcesShell has forecast that its refineries will make almost double the profit from every barrel of fuel produced in the third quarter of 2026, driven by record prices and global shortages caused by war-damaged refineries in the Middle East and Russia. The energy supermajor said it expects profit margins of $42 a barrel for the July-to-September period, up sharply from $24 in the second quarter and above the previous peak of about $28 in mid-2022.
· 3 sourcesWoolworths has increased the fuel levy it charges food and grocery suppliers through its logistics network to almost triple pre-war levels, reflecting sharp rises in diesel costs since the Iran war, with experts warning the increase is likely to be passed on to consumers at the check-out.
Britain is losing its status as a haven for the super-rich, with a string of high-profile departures including property tycoon David Reuben, who has moved to Monaco. Those leaving cite Labour's stricter tax regime, hostility towards extreme wealth and London transport policies, while others dismiss the warnings of economic decline that accompany each exit.
The Treasury Committee has opened an inquiry into the relationship between the Bank of England and the government, questioning whether the central bank's independence in setting interest rates should be changed. The move comes as rates remain at 3.75% with predictions of further rises, putting pressure on mortgage holders, jobseekers, and the wider economy.
The merger of Warner Bros. and Paramount has been completed, following a US judge's approval of a settlement that allowed the acquisition, Australian news outlets reported on October 7. The deal, first cleared by a US court in late September, has raised questions about corporate consolidation and editorial independence in the media industry.
· 4 sourcesO2 has agreed to a record £200 million deal to retain the naming rights to the London venue the O2, extending its sponsorship until at least 2038 in what is believed to be the largest naming rights renewal ever in the UK.
· 3 sourcesThe United States stock market has reached an all-time high, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both closing at records on Tuesday as excitement around artificial intelligence continued to drive a buying frenzy on Wall Street.
The Reserve Bank of India raised its benchmark repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50% on Wednesday, the first rate hike since 2023, as persistent inflation and geopolitical risks prompted a shift to a tighter policy stance. The move aligns with economist expectations and signals that further increases may follow.
· 2 sourcesAuric Mining has completed the acquisition of the Union Jack gold project near Coolgardie in Western Australia, boosting its total mineral resource inventory by 51 per cent to 301,000 ounces of shallow, open-pitable gold resources.
· 2 sourcesDalaroo Metals has announced a significant gold discovery at its Bondoukou Gold Ridge project in Côte d'Ivoire, with the second hole of a maiden reverse circulation campaign returning 18 metres at 7.31 grams per tonne gold from 63 metres depth. The news propelled the company's shares 67 per cent higher to 12.5 cents in heavy trading.
· 2 sourcesForrestania Resources has announced a maiden JORC-compliant mineral resource of 223,300 ounces at its recently acquired Tampia gold project in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region, marking a key step in plans to restart production at two processing hubs by early 2027.
· 2 sourcesBrisbane 2032 organisers have left the door open to a proposed ballpark in Logan to host baseball and softball during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, despite no guarantee it will be built. A pre-feasibility report into the privately built stadium went before Logan City Council on Wednesday, but no private funding has yet been secured.
· 3 sourcesVictoria's mining regulator has granted a 20-year licence for the Avonbank mineral sands mine near Horsham, a Chinese-backed project that has divided the community. The licence allows WIM Resource to extract zircon, titanium and rare earth elements from a 3,400-hectare site in Dooen, with construction expected to begin late next year and mining in 2029.
· 2 sourcesOil prices rose on Wednesday, pushing Brent crude above $101 a barrel, as fresh Houthi attacks on two Saudi airports renewed fears of supply disruptions in the Middle East, overshadowing signs of recovering flows through the kingdom's East-West Pipeline.
Ikea is piloting an online version of its furniture buyback service in Spain and Portugal, with a potential rollout to the UK if the trial succeeds. The move comes as the Swedish retailer launches its own secondhand online marketplace in the UK this week, directly competing with platforms like Vinted and eBay.
· 2 sourcesKmart has removed its $89 camera glasses from online sale, two months after the cut-price Anko smart glasses triggered a national privacy backlash and calls for federal government intervention.
· 3 sourcesThe US sharemarket set a new record overnight even as US bond yields climbed to levels not seen since 2002, a divergence that challenges conventional market correlations. According to a column by senior business writer Stephen Bartholomeusz, the typical inverse relationship between share prices and bond yields has not materialised in the overall indices. The rally comes against a backdrop of the Iran war, a bond market rout, and an oil crunch.
· 4 sourcesThe chief executive of Norwegian state-owned oil company Equinor has warned that the UK risks becoming 'uninvestable' if the government does not grant final approval for the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields. Anders Opedal told the BBC the company would have to reconsider future investments in Britain if the projects are rejected, as the government is set to decide on the developments despite a manifesto pledge to ban new drilling.
· 2 sourcesGoogle has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy covering 3,590 megawatts of future electricity supply, including 890 megawatts of new nuclear capacity, as the company tries to secure enough power for its datacenter ambitions.
A Delta Air Lines aircraft struck the tail of an Air Canada jet while taxiing at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday morning, the Federal Aviation Administration said, with no injuries reported.
Jaguar launched its Type 01 electric car in New York on Tuesday night, marking the culmination of a two-year rebrand and targeting younger, wealthier buyers in the US with a starting price of £130,000 ($172,000). The vehicle's ultra-long bonnet and low roof give it a muscular design, but it lacks a rear window and is too long to fit into a standard UK parking space.
· 3 sourcesDarwin is poised to become a major interconnection point for global data, with planning documents revealing two international subsea cables could soon dock in the suburb of Fannie Bay. Tech giant Google has lodged an application to connect its Bosun subsea cable to infrastructure at the corner of Atkin Drive and Conacher Street, while multinational company Inligo Networks is building Darwin's first open cable landing station directly opposite the proposed Google site.
· 2 sourcesAustralia's privacy commissioner has launched an investigation into the technology used in Kmart's cheap smart glasses, amid concerns over how the devices store and access user data.
· 4 sourcesParamount Skydance, the company formed by the $111 billion merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, announced today that its streaming services HBO Max, Paramount+, and Discovery+ will be unified into a single service over time, ending months of speculation about the future of the platforms.
Western Australia's work safety watchdog has issued an improvement notice to the owner of the world's largest lithium mine after survey responses revealed a toxic workplace culture and psychologically distressed workforce at the Greenbushes site, 240 kilometres south of Perth.
· 2 sourcesDefence technology company Anduril Industries will invest $3.7bn in a new shipyard in Maryland and build components for the United States Navy's Virginia-class submarines under a contract worth $2.9bn, the company confirmed on Tuesday.