Prices current around 4:30pm AEDT.
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
After starting the day on a positive note, the Australian share market finished the week in negative territory down 0.4%. The ASX 200 closed at 8294 points
At market close the Aussie dollar was flat at 61.94 US cents.
All sectors except basic materials were in the red.
As we reported earlier, embattled casino operator Star Entertainment has seen its share price plummet with analysts saying it was at risk of collapse.
Its share price closed down 13.5% at $0.12
And that's it from us on the business blog for the week, but we'll be back on Monday for a busy week of markets and finance news.
Next week we will have our eye on a few key events including the release of labour force figures on Thursday which will be one of the bits of data the RBA will be mulling when it makes its decision on interest rates next month.
Have a great weekend
As far as charts go, this one is pretty clear:
That large spike is skyrocketing uncertainty on trade policy in Asia, thanks to the huge tariffs promised by incoming US President Donald Trump.
And while it's pretty certain there will be higher tariffs on Chinese goods, ANZ analysts say the spike is due to it being as yet unclear which other economies in the region will be targeted, and whether universal tariffs are still on the table.
"Given this lack of clarity, financial markets have not fully priced in the extent of trade uncertainty. Investors may still be hoping for a watered-down tariff plan. Financial market volatility is likely to rise once the full extent of Trump’s trade policies becomes clear.
"The Chinese authorities continue to keep the yuan stable, but at some point, they will need to allow the currency to act as a shock absorber. This is the path of least resistance, in our view."
I take your point Steve — there are a lot of people who either can't afford to install solar panels or don't own the home they're living in and simply can't install them.
Obviously, there is a benefit in reduced power costs for those who have them, even if they end up getting next to nothing for any surplus electricity they export to the grid.
What I would point out though is that the solar feed-in tariffs are not charity — they are the price that energy companies are paying to buy something that they're then on-selling to other consumers.
At a flat price of 0.04 cents then those energy companies will be getting that rooftop solar for next to nothing. Given very low (sometimes negative) wholesale energy prices in the middle of sunny days, maybe that's fair enough, or maybe it's not. I haven't crunched the numbers.
My colleague Daniel Mercer is the resident expert on all things energy and I'm sure he'll get around to another piece on plunging feed-in tariffs soon.
For now, here's a good one he wrote a couple of months back on the flood of rooftop solar.
From the Victorian Essential Services Commission's website:
"The Essential Services Commission has released its draft decision on the minimum amount electricity retailers must pay solar customers for the electricity they export into the grid. This is known as a feed-in tariff.
"The proposed minimum flat feed-in tariff is 0.04 cents per kWh starting 1 July 2025, down from the current 3.3 cents per kWh in 2024–25."
We do make mistakes and very much welcome readers pointing them out so we can fix them, but please check your own facts before hitting the "comment" button.
Hi Andy, I agree that NZ is an interesting counterfactual against which to evaluate some of the criticisms about how the RBA and federal government have tackled the inflation problem in Australia.
I'm guessing you missed this piece I wrote late last year?
The share market story of the week on the ASX has undoubtedly been the plunge in Star Entertainment's share price.
It's lost nearly half its (modest) remaining value in the past couple of days, falling from 19.5 cents at the close on Wednesday to as low as 10 cents so far today.
The reason was an after-hours trading update on Wednesday that revealed it only has $79 million of cash left as at December 31.
That might sound like a lot, but it has burnt through $107 million in cash (after adjusting for new debt) over the previous three months.
In other words, unless it slows its cash burn or raises new money, it will be insolvent before the end of the current March quarter.
Morningstar analyst Angus Hewitt says the struggling casino operator may not even make it to its half-year results.
"At the current cash burn, the company would be lucky to make it to its interim results on Feb. 28, 2025 without a lifeline," he explains in a note to clients.
"Operating conditions are weak, with mandatory carded play and poor consumer sentiment weighing on the top line. Compliance and legal costs have also increased."
Star still has to pay $10 million out of a $15 million penalty from the NSW regulator, and it may face a fine which Mr Hewitt expects to be in the range of $330 million from the anti-money laundering watchdog.
Mr Hewitt believes Star will go to the market and try and sell new shares for 10 cents each to try and raise $150 million so it can access a further $100 million in debt funding.
He now values Star at 20 cents a share, because of the high chance it could collapse.
"We now incorporate a 50% probability that Star falls into administration, and equityholders are wiped out," he notes.
"Our going concern valuation is AUD 0.40, from AUD 0.50 previously, mainly due to the more dilutive raise."
That's if it can find buyers for the new shares, given how much previous investors have lost.
"We still expect a medium-term recovery in operating conditions for casinos," Mr Hewitt concludes.
"However, Star needs a more immediate solution, and we believe it is unlikely it can trade itself out of this predicament."
The claim has often been made by politicians and media outlets but never backed up by evidence. Reporter Kenji Sato got to the bottom of it and has an answer:
Prices current around 2:20pm AEDT.
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Consumer spending rose by 0.4% in November, slower than the 0.9% pace recorded in October, according to Commonwealth Bank's latest monthly household spending indicator.
As expected, Black Friday sales boosted spending in some areas, though it seems we were less eager to part with our cash than previous years, perhaps due to the cost of living crisis.
We spent less on services and more on goods, according to the data (and as noted in yesterday's retail sales figures).
Growth in non-discretionary spending (+0.5%) was higher than discretionary (+0.4%)
By category, the biggest contributor was the 0.9% increase in recreation & culture - with some big box office releases seeing more of us head to the cinema.
Interestingly, spending on alcohol & tobacco continued to decline, with overall spending below pre-pandemic levels.