ABC Business Daily

After three rate hikes in 2026, the Reserve Bank has finally hit pause - leaving the cash rate unchanged at 4.35 per cent. The Board says inflation is “still too high” and that higher fuel prices are “passing through to the prices of other goods and services”, but decided to hold steady while it assesses the impact of earlier increases. Carrington Clarke and ABC News Business Editor Michael Janda...

The Australian stock market has surged after US President Donald Trump declared that oil shipments will soon start flowing freely through the strait of Hormuz. The announcement comes as Australia's Reserve Bank starts its deliberations about what to do with interest rates ahead of tomorrow afternoon's decision. So does this Hormuz news lower the chance of further rate hikes? Carrington Clarke and ...

“Ships of the world, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” That was US President Donald Trump on Truth Social after news that the US and Iran had reached a ceasefire agreement - a deal Iran has also confirmed. But we've been here before - and while the announcement is dramatic, plenty of questions remain. Will the oil really flow? How will we know when the Strait of Hormuz is truly open? How long...

Katharina Mildren started her fashion label, Katharina Lou, at her kitchen table not long after finishing university.  A few years on, the business is growing at 50 per cent a year, employs half a dozen full-time staff, and has built a customer base that extends well beyond Australia. This is partly a classic founder story - how to start a business, manage cash flow, deal with stock, and grow with...

Inflation in the United States has jumped to a three-year high, with rising energy prices adding fresh pressure as the war in Iran escalates again. So what does hotter US inflation mean for global markets, interest rates, and Australia? And with SpaceX about to go public in what could be a historic market moment, how should investors think about the hype - and the growing security concerns around...

Australian grocery giant Woolworths is expected to ship hundreds of corporate jobs offshore. Barbeques Galore says it's going to close up shop with hundreds of workers facing redundancy. What to make of these retail shakeups? And why is Wesfarmers positive about the transformational power of AI? Carrington Clarke and ABC Business Reporter Steph Chalmers break it all down on ABC Business Daily. Cat...

Energy and Climate Minister Chris Bowen says Australia’s petrol, diesel, and jet fuel reserves are now higher than they were when the war in Iran began - and enough to keep the country secure through August.  But as Transport Minister Catherine King warns, the fuel excise cut is still expected to end this month. So is what we have on hand enough? And what does that tell us about fuel security, the...

After weeks of anticipation, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is finally about to go public at the end of this week - but not before OpenAI also turned heads, with news that it's looking to test the public market. So is there any risk behind the sky-high SpaceX hype?  And a week out from the RBA’s next rate decision, economists at Australia’s big four banks can’t seem to agree on the RBA's next move. What's beh...

Negotiations between Iran and the US remain up in the air as Iran sends missiles toward Israel for the first time since April.   Meanwhile the oil producing countries of OPEC+ say they will increase production in July. But with the Strait of Hormuz still closed, will that oil have anywhere to go? And we answer your questions: why the disruptions to oil have been so big – given that only 20% of the...

Childcare has become a system that almost everyone relies on, but very few think is working properly. Families pay a lot, quality is uneven, and after years of marketisation the sector is now dominated by for-profit providers.  So how did Australia end up here? Why is the system still so expensive? What does the data say are the differences between for-profit and not-for-profit care? Does fixing i...

A simmering scandal at accounting firm KPMG has reached a boiling point with multiple heads rolling and admissions about poor handling of a whistleblower’s complaint. It's raising questions, once again, about how the big four accounting firms operate in Australia. Meanwhile tariff threats from the United States have surfaced anew. What exactly does it mean for Australian businesses? Carrington Cla...

New data shows Australia’s economy was already slowing the first three months of the year, before the full impact of a series of interest rate hikes and the war in the Middle East washed through. So what does this slowdown mean for the outlook for interest rates? And what will the Fair Work Commission's wage hike mean for Australia's workers? Carrington Clarke and ABC Business Reporter Steph Chalm...

Have oil prices been too calm for a crisis this big? Economists are starting to worry that forecasts for the length of the conflict - and the hit to global oil supply and prices - have been too optimistic. So what if this war drags on? And with just one month left on the reduced fuel excise, will the government extend the relief if there is still no end in sight? Carrington Clarke and Ian Verrende...

There’s a race happening on Wall Street, as AI giants rush to go public and collect the prize of passive funds. Anthropic has made the latest move to file on the heels of SpaceX, which is already set to stage the largest public offering in stock market history. And a huge uptake in home batteries here in Australia is reshaping the power industry. Could battery-generated power help the nation to co...

National property price rises have stalled, according to recent data, as three successive rate hikes and planned property tax changes seem to dramatically shift the market. So where does the Australian property market go from here? And as the Australian Bureau of statistics prepares to release GDP data later this week, there’s a larger conversation going on about what GDP measures - and what it do...

Fears are growing that global oil supplies are approaching “minimal operational limits” – the amount of oil needed to keep pipelines and storage facilities stocked and safely running.  So what is the difference between minimum oil requirements, and the oil that’s available to go to market?  And we answer a fuel storage question from listener Serghei in Canberra. Carrington Clarke and Alan Kohler h...

Artificial intelligence is no longer just a Silicon Valley fascination, a share market story, or something happening off in the distance. It is becoming a force that could reshape work, productivity, innovation, and the way whole economies function - and one of the companies at the centre of that shift is Anthropic, the maker of Claude. Peter McCrory is Anthropic’s chief economist. His job is to m...

Fresh analysis from the Reserve Bank, released today, paints the clearest picture yet of Australian housing investors. So who exactly are they? And what does this detailed demographic data tell us about the property market’s winners and losers? And liquor giant Endeavour Group has announced that it's exiting its vineyards and wineries portfolio. What does the future of one of Australia’s largest p...

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released today shows that the Consumer Price Index fell in April, thanks in large part to easing fuel costs. But underlying inflation remains stubbornly elevated.    So what should we make of these numbers? How might they shape the RBA’s moves on next month’s rates decision - and is this a good or bad sign of the health of our economy? Daniel Ziffer an...

One of the big stories out of Canberra this week is the government’s draft discussion paper on a domestic gas reservation policy. So is it a realistic plan? Does the government have political support from the Opposition - and public support too - as calls for a gas tax grow louder in some parts of the country? And what would it actually cost, and mean, for the flow of gas to households and busines...

As the dust settles on the government’s big federal budget announcement, questions still remain about how and when changes will take place. But what do some of Australia’s leading economists think of the proposed policies a fortnight later? And power prices are set to fall for many customers with even bigger drops for businesses. So what’s driving the relief, and how will this set the stage for to...

New economic data suggests people across Australia are staying put--forgoing job changes, new businesses, and interstate moves.   So what’s keeping people feeling stuck? And what bigger costs might this have for the Australian economy? Meanwhile, according to a Commonwealth bank commodity report, Chinese steel output has dipped while US output is undergoing something of a resurgence. What do these...

US officials say the country is close to reaching potential peace deal with Iran - which would include the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.  But, as before, the specifics (and certainty) are still up in the air. So is how is the global energy market reacting? Daniel Ziffer and Alan Kohler help you keep on top of the numbers behind the ongoing energy crisis on Fuelcast on ABC Business Daily. Got a...

Housing is suddenly one of the biggest fights in Australian politics. After years of timidity, both the government and opposition are now throwing punches on tax, migration, infrastructure, and supply in what could become a genuinely consequential moment for how Australia deals with housing. Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz chairs the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, the body tracking whether...

Today we're covering a handful of fresh figures that have just come in. What do the latest employment numbers tell us about the state of the Australian economy? And what to make of tech giant Nvidia’s quarterly results that have surpassed Wall Street’s expectations? And with Joe Longo’s last day as Chairman of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, where do things stand with the supe...