Market snapshot
- ASX200 futures: flat
- Australian dollar: -0.4% to USD 66.04
- Wall Street (Thursday): S&P500 -1%, Dow -0.4%, Nasdaq -1.4%
- Europe (Thursday): Dax -0.5%, FTSE +0.9%, Eurostoxx flat
- Spot Gold: +1% to $4,374/oz
- Brent Crude: +2.5% to $60.39/barrel
- Iron ore (Friday): +1% to $103.60/tonne
- Bitcoin: -1.9% ($85,981)
Current prices around 8am (AEDT)
Live updates of major ASX indexes:
NetWealth pays more than $100 million in compensation to First Guardian investors
Superannuation platform NetWealth has reached an agreement with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to pay more than $100 million to more than 1,000 customers affected by the First Guardian Master Fund collapse.
ASIC has announced that it has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from NetWealth to ensure that members are compensated for 100 per cent of their investments in First Guardian, less any withdrawals.
As part of the deal, NetWealth admitted it did not have sufficient information about First Guardian before offering the fund on its superannuation platform.
Macquarie's superannuation platform has already agreed to pay more than $300 million to compensate customers who invested in Shield Master Funds through the platform, while ASIC is currently pursuing legal action against other super platform operators.
The Australian dollar fell 0.4% to just above US$66.
It reached 67 USD just this month! The local currency has come under some pressure overnight. It is currently trading at just above USD 66.
Below is a note from CBA's currency analysts.
AUD/USD fell towards 0.6600 as US stocks fell. Concerns about AI's high valuation weighed on U.S. stocks.
We expect the Australian dollar to strengthen against most major currencies in the coming months and will be eased as 2026 progresses. The exception is AUD/NZD, which is expected to rise modestly throughout the year.
We expect AUD/USD to end 2025 at a year-to-date high near 0.6800.. We also noticed that AUD/USD tends to rise in the last two weeks of the year.
Warner Bros. rejects Paramount's hostile takeover bid
Warner Bros. Discovery's board rejects Paramount Skydance's $108.4 billion offer ($163.7 billion) in hostile bidding.
In a letter to shareholders disclosed in a regulatory filing, the board wrote that Paramount “consistently misled” Warner Bros. shareholders that the $30-per-share cash offer was fully guaranteed or “backstopped” by the Ellison family, led by billionaire Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.
The board wrote that the guarantees in Paramount's proposal “are not and never have been” and that the proposal poses “a number of significant risks.”
Warner Bros.' board also said it judged Paramount's proposal to be “inferior” to its merger agreement with Netflix.
Warner Bros. has not yet set a date for a shareholder vote on the deal, but it is expected to take place in the spring or early summer.
Report by Reuters
ASX opens flat as Wall Street tech uncertainty continues
good morning!
Wall Street's major indexes fell Wednesday.&At 500 pesos, the tech-heavy Nasdaq hit its lowest level in three weeks.
It is as follows Nagging concerns about artificial intelligence trade Tech stocks were weighed down.
Oracle fell nearly 5%. Following reports that the cloud company's largest data center partner, Blue Owl Capital, will not support a US$10 billion deal for the upcoming facility.
AI powerhouse Nvidia falls 3.4% Meanwhile, chipmaker Broadcom fell 5.5% and the overall chip index fell 3.3%.
Investment strategist Ross Mayfield told Reuters that “anxiety about AI trading is pervasive.”
Overall, the Dow Jones fell 0.4% and the S&The P500 fell almost 1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.4%.
Right now, ASX 200 futures indicate it is moving sideways today. More coming soon!
Report by Reuters
