Live: ASX to open higher as Wall Street rallies

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 12:12pm

Market snapshot

ASX 200: +1.1% to 9,116 points
Australian dollar: +0.2% at 70.12 US cents
Wall Street: S&P 500 +1.5%, Dow +1.3%, Nasdaq +2.1%
Europe: Dax +1.5%, FTSE -0.1%, Eurostoxx 600 +0.5%
Asia: Nikkei -0.2%, Hang Seng -0.5%, Kospi -0.2%
Spot gold: +0.1% to $US4,057/ounce
Oil: Brent +0.8% at $US84.42/barrel
Iron ore: +0.2% to $US93.80/tonne
Bitcoin: -0.1% to $US63,728

Prices current at around 12:12pm AEST

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 1:05pm

ACCC extends relaxed free-range egg labelling during bird flu scare

The consumer watchdog has extended its pause on free-range egg labelling enforcement as some farmers move hens indoors to protect them from H5 bird flu on state government advice.

Usually eggs can only be labelled as free range if producers meet several requirements for hens, including access to outdoors and stocking densities of no more than 10,000 hens per hectare.

As bird flu cases continue to rise, the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) is allowing farmers to keep chickens indoors and still use free-range cartons.

My colleagues Jane McNaughton, Justine Longmore and Selina Green have more.

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 12:45pm

Household spending up 0.8pc in June

Household spending rose 0.8% in June 2026, according to seasonally adjusted figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

This followed a rise of 1.2% in May and a fall of 1.0% in April, the ABS said.

Tom Lay, ABS head of business statistics, said the rise in June was driven by discretionary spending rising for the second month in a row at 1.2%, thanks to continued strength in transport, and recreation and culture.

“New vehicle sales were the standout within transport this month, driving a 3% rise,” Mr Lay said.

“Electric vehicle sales increased significantly over the year and have continued that trend in June, accounting for a growing share of overall new vehicle sales as households adjust their spending behaviour in response to rising fuel prices.”

Air travel spending was the second largest contributor to the strength in transport spending, as it returned to levels seen before the travel disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict that began in March 2026, the data showed.

Fuel spending has eased from the peak observed in March, as world oil prices fell and the reduction in the fuel excise duty from 1 April until 30 June continues to pass through to households, according to the ABS.

Experimental data produced by the ABS suggests that the volume of fuel spending increased by 7.8% in June, reflecting a 10.9% decrease in prices. This follows a 0.2% increase in May.

The ABS data also showed household spending on recreation and culture went up by 1.4%.

Mr Lays added the rise came from a few categories in June, with households spending more on electronic goods, performing arts and other live entertainment, and gambling activity likely supported by major sporting events.

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 12:20pm

Qantas says no decisions made on speuclating job cuts

Qantas has said it’s been looking at ways to accelerate the use of technology and AI to modernise how it works and deliver better outcomes.

Emerging media reports have revealed that Qantas is mulling offshore up to 1,000 roles as part of a deal with consulting agency Accenture, as the airline works to cut costs.

Qantas said it was in early-stage discussions about the AI use, but no formal agreement has been reached or decisions made yet.

“We have added thousands of operational roles in Australia in the past few years, including pilots, cabin crew and engineers and will hire thousands more over the coming years,” a Qantas spokesperson told the ABC.

“We also have a technology hub opening in Adelaide next month, with more than 400 roles to be based there.”

The Australian Services Union (ASU) has demanded Qantas stay true to its commitment that there will be no job losses through the implementation of Accenture’s plan.

Assistant national secretary Scott Cowen said today’s reporting was a huge concern to th ASU members.

“What’s been reported today is that the airline is considering a proposal by Accenture, that’s not in dispute,” Mr Cowen said.

“What matters is that Qantas has informed [us] that there is no plan to offshore any Australian jobs, and we demand the airline stay true to these commitments.

“If that commitment from Qantas turns out to be worthless, it won’t just be a broken promise to the ASU.

“It will be a deep breach of trust with the Australian public who have stuck by this airline through everything it has put them through.”

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 12:05pm

Australian shares extend gains

Australian shares edged higher, extending gains at the open.

The ASX 200 rose 1.25% to 9,131 points as of 11:56am AEST, after rising 0.5% on Monday.

The Technology sector led the market, up 1.8%, followed by Financials and Healthcare, both up 1.7%.

Consumer Non-Cyclicals was the only sector in the red, down 0.1%.

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 11:50am

Older people open to downsizing but undersupply of smaller homes and stamp duty among barriers

As 78-year-old Eleanor Shearing looks over the cluttered boxes around the place she’s lived in for 50 years, a mix of nostalgia and anxiety set in.

Seaford, a coastal suburb of Adelaide, is where she raised a family, formed a community and made a life.

But her three-bedroom home is now getting harder to live in, and on a single income, it’s also becoming harder to pay for.

After four years of trying to downsize, Ms Shearing fears she might have to leave Seaford entirely.

You can read the full report from Ahmed Yussuf below:

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 11:35am

Sportsbet owner scraps rewards club

Sportsbet owner Flutter Entertainment has scrapped its “rewards club” company Sportsdream Rewards.

The lucrative industry claims to have given away hundreds of millions of dollars to members, who pay a monthly fee to join the clubs, and are entered into draws to win prizes, which can include cash, cars or even houses.

The company’s website has been scrapped, and its social media accounts mostly wiped.

In a statement on Facebook the company said: “we’re hitting pause on Sportsdream Rewards as we take some time to properly review how things are going and decide what comes next.”

The club was operated by a company called Free To Play Australia Pty Ltd, and didn’t promote its links to Sportsbet, despite the paper trail revealing close ties.

Gambling reform advocates said the company was just a funnel to Sportsbet’s more significant gambling activities, and let the company get around the self-exclusion register.

The federal government has pledged to crack down on “dodgy lotteries”, which includes rewards clubs, but there is limited enforcement of existing regulation.

The ABC has reached out to Flutter Entertainment for comment.

If you have any experience with Rewards Clubs, feel free to send me an email: wells.jasper@abc.net.au

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 11:25am

Small business insurance problems aired

I’m in a Melbourne hotel at a hearing of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services.

The committee is examining issues in small business insurance and we’re currently hearing from insurance brokers who operate in areas that have higher-than-normal risk of natural disasters, such as the Ovens Valley.

A consistent theme is that the exit of insurers from some geographies increases the pressure on the dwindling few remaining. More to come …

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 11:20am

AFCA complaints driven by investment collapses and superannuation disputes

We’ve got more detail on the AFCA complaints, let’s break down the numbers further.

The largest growth in complaints was driven by major investment collapses and rising superannuation disputes.

AFCA’s preliminary data snapshot as at June 30 showed:

Banking and finance 66,971 complaints (up 23%)
General insurance 36,022 complaints (up 5%)
Superannuation 8,755 complaints (up 42%)
Investments and advice 6,542 complaints (up 56%)
Life insurance 1,561 complaints (up 3%)

Investments and advice complaints were primarily driven by the Shield Master Fund and First Guardian collapses.

Complaints alleging failure to act in the client’s best interest remain the top issue with a 65% increase on last year, up to 2,081.

AFCA’s chief customer officer Deborah Jenkins says these matters are “complex and can be incredibly stressful for individuals and their families”.

“While most financial advice firms do the right thing, we are seeing a significant number of complaints stem from major financial collapses that have affected thousands of consumers,” she says.

Superannuation complaints increased 42% during the year, with delays in claim handling, service issues and rejection of superannuation insurance claims emerging as the most common issues.

Rejection of claim complaints increased 82% compared with the previous year.

Scam complaints rose 12% to 6,706 following a decline the previous year.

“Scammers are becoming more sophisticated in how they target consumers. Resolving disputes is important but preventing scams before they happen is even better,” Ms Jenkins says.

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 11:05am

Complaints to AFCA at record high

Australians have lodged the highest number of complaints with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) on record.

It’s also the third consecutive year the complaints have exceeded 100,000.

In the 2025-26 financial year, 119,949 complaints were lodged with AFCA.

AFCA’s Chief Customer Officer Deborah Jenkins says these numbers highlight the challenges many consumers continue to face at the same time as “cost-of-living challenges and economic uncertainty”.

“Every complaint represents someone’s experience, and collectively they provide a view of where consumers are struggling,” says Ms Jenkins.

“By working with us and acting on these insights, firms can help prevent recurring issues that lead to complaints with AFCA.”

The three most complained about financial products were:

Personal transaction accounts
Motor vehicle insurance
Credit cards.

The top three issues were:

Delay in claim handling
Service quality
Claim rejection

Banking and finance remained AFCA’s largest complaint area, with financial difficulty complaints increasing 17% and credit reporting complaints rising 22% across the year.

“These numbers point to opportunities for firms to strengthen hardship support, improve communication with customers and ensure accurate credit reporting, helping resolve issues before they become disputes,” says Ms Jenkins.

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 10:50am

Corporate watchdog moves to shut down developer’s activities with fresh court action

The corporate watchdog ASIC is seeking orders from the Federal Court to restrain Melbourne-based property developer Paul Chiodo’s alleged fundraising activities.

Mr Chiodo, who led the Shield Master Fund before it was put into liquidation in late 2024, is already being sued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for allegedly breaching his director duties related to the now collapsed Shield fund.

Mr Chiodo has continually denied any wrongdoing and argues he was unfairly targeted by the regulator.

ASIC has now taken fresh court action against Mr Chiodo, noting five investors are fighting to get their money back from an overseas investment fund linked to Mr Chiodo.

ASIC alleges that in August 2025, Royce Capital raised $1.54 million from five Australian SMSF investors, purportedly for investment in one or more offshore funds – two are registered in Cayman Islands and one in Delaware.

The regulator alleges that Royce Capital provided financial services without holding an Australian financial services licence, and that Louie Kortesis and Paul Chiodo were involved in Royce Capital’s alleged unlicensed conduct.

ASIC is seeking orders from the Federal Court to restrain Royce Capital Investments, Royce (Aust) Real Estate (RARE), Mr Kortesis and Mr Chiodo from advertising, promoting or accepting money in Australia for three overseas funds: Royce Global Investments LP (registered in the Cayman Islands), Royce Global Real Estate LP (registered in the Cayman Islands) and Royce Private Investments Fund LP (registered in Delaware, USA).

The regulator’s proposed orders would also restrain Royce Capital, RARE, Mr Kortesis and Mr Chiodo from advertising, promoting or accepting money for financial products generally in Australia.

ASIC alleges that Royce Capital and/or RARE made misleading or deceptive representations in brochures provided to some investors, including to the effect that they would receive a guaranteed or fixed return of 13 per cent per annum.

Mr Chiodo told the ABC he rejected ASIC’s claims.

“We are not the promotors in any way,” he said.

“The investors’ capital and its 13 per cent returns are in the fund and it was instructed for this payment to occur on the 17 July via our banking custodian partner.

“All five investors had this communication, to this effect, also on 17 July 2026.”

A previous ABC investigation found the First Guardian, Shield superannuation disasters exposed deep flaws in Australia’s $4.3 trillion retirement system. More on that below.

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 10:35am

ASX trading higher – a breakdown

The ASX 200 has begun Tuesday morning trading up +0.3% 9,044 points.

The Healthcare sector is up the top, while Consumer Non-Cyclicals is down the bottom.

Of the major stocks, 63 are in the red, 5 are unchanged, and 132 are gaining.

Here are the top movers, with DroneShield up about +8.0%.

Here are the bottom movers, with Predictive Discovery down -7.1%.

The Aussie dollar is trading at 70 US cents.

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 10:20am

Billion-dollar property collapse highlights private credit danger

Here is chief business correspondent Ian Verrender’s latest piece of analysis on Jon Adgemis.

Jon Adgemis managed to rack up $1.8 billion in debt — much of it from private credit firms — over a hotel portfolio.

It has raised alarm bells over the private credit industry, which operates with little or no regulation.

Many who invested in Jon Adgemis’s businesses were not doing so directly. Instead, they’d invested in a private credit fund that had promised double-digit returns over properties with claims they were protected by strong mortgage backing.

In some cases, the credit funds were charging upwards of 20 per cent interest on loans to developers, indicating the loans were high risk.

You can read the full piece here:

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 10:05am

Market snapshot

ASX 200: +0.3% to 9,042 points
Australian dollar: flat at 69.99 US cents
Wall Street: S&P 500 +1.5%, Dow +1.3% Nasdaq +1.8%
Europe: Dax +1.5%, FTSE -0.1%, Eurostoxx 600 +0.5%
Spot gold: +0.2% to $US4,059/ounce
Oil: Brent Crude flat at $US83.77/barrel
Iron ore: -2.1% to $US93.90/tonne
Bitcoin: -0.4% to $US63,525

Prices current at around 10:05am AEST

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 10:03am

ASX opens in the green

The Aussie share market has opened up +0.3% to 9,046 points.

More to come.

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 9:43am

Cost of running a small business has increased almost 25 per cent since the start of COVID

AMP Bank GO Index has revealed small business costs have jumped almost 25% since COVID.

The bank says this helps explain why many Aussies continue to face higher prices for everyday goods and services despite inflation easing.

The costs may also rise further.

Here are some of the key findings:

Insurance costs have risen more than 50%
Fuel is up 38%
Interest costs up 36%
Electricity up 26%
Rent up 23%
Wages up more than 20%

Across the country there are 2.7 million small businesses, which employ millions more Aussies.

AMP Deputy Chief Economist Diana Mousina says many small businesses remain under pressure, and are constantly weighing up whether to absorb rising costs, or pass on to customers, who are already feeling the pinch.

“While inflation has come down from its peak, many small business costs remain high,” she says.

“That creates a difficult balancing act, especially when margins are already tight and consumers are feeling their own inflationary pressure and are increasingly price sensitive.”

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 9:20am

ICYMI: House price downturn deepens beyond falls in Sydney and Melbourne

The downturn in the national housing market is no longer confined to Sydney and Melbourne, with Brisbane and Adelaide recording declines in house prices in July according to property data firm Cotality.

Here is last night’s report from business correspondent David Taylor:

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Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 9:05am

Wall St neared ‘record high’, according to analyst

Capital.com senior analyst Kyle Rodda says the Wall Street results were so strong, they neared “a record high as the power of strong earnings growth and diminishing fears about a hawkish US Federal Reserve drove the market”.

He said part of this was driven by recent manufacturing data, and a plunge in the price of oil.

“The latest ‘TACO’ (Trump Always Chickens Out) over the weekend and the commencement of talks between the US and Iran on opening the Strait of Hormuz and reviving nuclear negotiations,” he says.

“However, crude prices finished off their lows after Iran denied peace talks would take place, keeping alive the very real possibility hostilities will renew again.”

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 8:50am

Meta, Anthropic, Google, OpenAI to meet Trump officials about AI safety testing

Meta, Anthropic, OpenAI and Google have been invited to meet White House officials to discuss voluntary government safety testing for the most advanced U.S. AI models.

Anthropic and OpenAI disclosed in recent days that their AI tools breached the systems of other companies, stirring concerns among U.S. lawmakers about whether increasingly capable AI models could be used to conduct or facilitate cyberattacks.

A White House official said the Trump administration has finalised the details of voluntary cybersecurity tests to measure the hacking capabilities of the most advanced American AI models, and is planning to discuss them with the AI industry. The official did not indicate who would attend the discussions.

Meta was invited, a company spokesperson said, as were Anthropic and OpenAI.

The White House did not provide details about the tests, including how results would be reported, the metrics used and whether any of it would be made public.

A group of 15 Republican state attorneys general asked OpenAI to preserve all potentially relevant documents related to its disclosure that its AI system escaped containment and hacked AI company Hugging Face. Citing a Reuters report that the rogue agent in one case left notes for how future versions of itself could escape internal guardrails, they wrote that the company may have violated state consumer protection laws.

OpenAI said in a statement it takes the letter from the attorneys general seriously and will share a technical report about the Hugging Face attack after it completes a review.

The U.S. House of Representatives’ cybersecurity committee asked OpenAI’s Sam Altman to brief them on the attack on Hugging Face.

Altman visited the White House last week to discuss details of the voluntary tests and the company’s upcoming AI products, the company said in a statement. In a separate statement, the company said it had asked the Trump administration to put the Commerce Department’s AI safety specialists at the centre of any cybersecurity testing.

The company pointed to China, whose government has a more centralised strategy on AI compared with the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump directed his team in June to write a series of tests to assess the hacking capabilities of the most advanced American AI systems.

The Trump administration has had a rocky relationship with Anthropic. The company earlier this year refused to ‌allow the U.S. military to use its AI models for domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons systems, and the government retaliated by putting it on a national security blacklist.

Anthropic said last week that some of its AI models hacked into the systems of three companies during cybersecurity tests. That disclosure followed rival OpenAI’s report that one of its AI agents escaped a testing environment and hacked into the systems of the AI company Hugging Face.

– Reuters

Tue 4 Aug 2026 at 8:35am