Obsession for dividend payouts is stifling growth
Australian companies are re-directing their cash toward dividend-hungry investors instead of stepping up investment to underpin future growth in a shift which has serious implications for the ability of the non-mining sector to shoulder a bigger burden.
S&P 500 hits record though Ukraine cuts gains
Updated | The S&P 500 closed at a record but ended well off the day’s highs as worries about tensions in Ukraine caused investors to take profits ahead of the weekend.
US debt prices pare losses on month-end buying
US Treasury debt prices pared most of their losses on month-end buying on Friday, as investors balanced their portfolios, traders said.
Persistent ECB easing bets push Spanish yields down
Spanish bond yields reached new historic lows on Friday as persistent expectations that the European Central Bank will loosen monetary policy further supported lower-rated debt.
US fourth-quarter growth cut to 2.4pc
The US government slashed its estimate for fourth-quarter growth, but tentative signs are emerging that the worst of the economy's slowdown may be over.
Results season reflects narrow earnings pool
The reporting season is over and the following sectors can take a bow: health; consumer discretionary; materials; banks. Everyone else, it seems, can do better.
Stronger earnings drive February rally
Stocks rallied in February as earnings looked to be improving for the first time in three years. A raft of companies said the outlook was improving, while others showed they are taking decisive action to curb costs.
Oil drilling slowdown to last 12-18 months: Maersk
The current slowdown in offshore oil and gas drilling will last 12 to 18 months, and the market for rigs will rebound in 2015, Maersk Drilling said, providing a more optimistic forecast than other drilling firms.
Yuan slide adds to concerns over China
The US S&P 500 index may have set a fresh record this week but the mood in the local market was wary as investors fretted the slide in Chinese currency could presage an imminent slowdown in Chinese growth.
$A up but confidence undermined
Following a topsy-turvy month, the Australian dollar has finished February just US2¢ higher, with mixed messages around the Australian economy offsetting much of the large fluctuations.
Australia’s best fund manager revealed
Morningstar’s Fund Manager of the Year award winners explain their strategies and outlook for investment markets.
There’s no growth without credit: Dallara
The time is 4.30am on an October morning in 2011 and Charles Dallara, the globe-trotting US defender of the big banks finds himself at the centre of the largest government debt default in history.
Currencies
| AUD | USD | EUR | JPY | GBP | |
| AUD |  |
0.8925 | 0.6466 | 90.85 | 0.5329 |
| USD | 1.1198 |  |
0.7245 | 101.77 | 0.5971 |
| EUR | 1.5456 | 1.3803 |  |
140.49 | 0.824 |
| JPY | 0.0110 | 0.0098 | 0.0071 |  |
0.0059 |
| GBP | 1.875 | 1.6744 | 1.2131 | 170.44 |  |
Results: AGL, Flight Centre, Worley Parsons
AGL and Worley Parsons have seen profit drops in their results announced Wednesday but Flight Centre continues to soar.
World Indices
| S&P;/ASX 200 | 5,404.8 | - 6.6 | - 0.12% |
| ALL ORDINARIES | 5,415.4 | - 5.6 | - 0.10% |
| S&P;/ASX 100 | 4,485.6 | - 6.0 | - 0.13% |
| SMALL ORDS | 2,232.5 | + 4.5 | + 0.20% |
| Dow Jones | 16,321.71 | + 49.06 | + 0.30% |
| S&P 500 INDEX | 1,859.45 | + 5.16 | + 0.28% |
| NASDAQ COMPOSITE | 4,308.12 | - 10.81 | - 0.25% |
| Wilshire 5000 | 19,946.84 | + 29.62 | + 0.15% |
| FTSE 100 | 6,809.70 | - 0.57 | - 0.01% |
| CAC 40 INDEX | 4,408.08 | + 11.69 | + 0.27% |
| SMI PR | 8,475.33 | + 4.43 | + 0.05% |
| XETRA DAX PF | 9,692.08 | + 103.75 | + 1.08% |
| HANG SENG INDEX | 22,836.96 | + 8.78 | + 0.04% |
| - | % |
| NIKKEI 225 INDEX | 14,841.07 | - 82.04 | - 0.55% |
| SSE COMPOSITE/d | 2,056.30 | + 8.95 | + 0.44% |
Bleak report likely to get a lot bleaker
The December quarter capital expenditure survey is one of the bleakest reports on the economy for some time and, at face value, again raises the non-negligible risk of recession next year.
Asia calls in the central bank rock stars
Exclusive interviews in The Australian Financial Review this week with the Asia region’s two highest-profile central bank governors, Raghuram Rajan and Haruhiko Kuroda, have underlined how Asian central bank independence is still a work in progress.
Is China headed for a hard landing?
Maximilian Walsh | China may have saved our economic bacon in the GFC, but there are concerns that next time she might prove to be Australia’s undoing.
Sharemarket may have further to climb
Philip Baker | Not every company has delivered but there have been enough solid results this reporting season to give investors some comfort about further gains. The bottom line is that earnings are poised to grow about 15 per cent, driven by growth in the resources sector.
Weather or not . . . is the cold really to blame for soft US data?
Philip Baker | There’s always some major indicator that can point to stormy weather for financial markets.
Lower $A may not please RBA
Philip Baker | Mining investment is slowing faster than many economists thought, but there’s no growth coming through from other sectors. For a central bank which has dropped its easing bias, it’s disappointing news.
Is China headed for a hard landing?
Maximilian Walsh | China may have saved our economic bacon in the GFC, but there are concerns that next time she might prove to be Australia’s undoing.
Taking stock
Clouds hang over Cabcharge despite better result
Cabcharge might have reported a better than expected interim profit, but changes to taxi surcharge rules in Victoria and the threat of competition from new smartphone apps cast clouds over the stock’s future performance.
SMS uptick not expected until June: analysts
The dearth of major technology projects in the corporate and government sectors is continuing to bite listed IT services companies.
Equity Markets
Ranson farewells Citi
The changing of the guard among the top ranks of Australian investment banking continued on Friday, as Simon Ranson, Citigroup’s head of mergers and acquisitions and real estate, flagged his retirement.
Spain's IBEX falls, lags other European markets
Gains at major German drugmaker Bayer propped up European equities on Friday and kept key markets near multi-year highs, although weak earnings in Spain hit the Madrid bourse.
Debt Markets
US debt prices pare losses on month-end buying
US Treasury debt prices pared most of their losses on month-end buying on Friday, as investors balanced their portfolios, traders said.
Persistent ECB easing bets push Spanish yields down
Spanish bond yields reached new historic lows on Friday as persistent expectations that the European Central Bank will loosen monetary policy further supported lower-rated debt.
Currency Markets
Bitcoin true believers unfazed by losses in Mt. Gox
Like other bitcoin evangelists, Ken Shishido is ready to write off the money he lost in the bankruptcy of Tokyo-based virtual currency exchange Mt. Gox as the price of revolutionising global finance.
Mt. Gox sued in United States over bitcoin losses
Mt. Gox, once the world’s largest bitcoin exchange, has been sued by a customer in what may be the first of many U.S. lawsuits seeking to recoup millions of dollars of losses linked to a hacking attack that led to the exchange’s bankruptcy.
