S&P 500 poised for fifth record closing high
Materials, industrials and consumer discretionary paced eight of the benchmark's 11 industry sectors higher. UnitedHealth, American Express and Goldman Sachs paced the Dow's advance.
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Courier-Mail
3 hours ago
- Courier-Mail
Are banks getting tighter with frequent flyer bonus point offers?
Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News. I've been looking at getting a new credit card and it seems banks are offering less bonus points. What's the best way to get the most points? This is an interesting observation and my gut instinct tells me you may be correct. Ultimately the best way to check is to look at some historical data of what banks have offered. The team at compares many credit cards on the market and crunched the data on bonus points offers over the past six years. Contrary to my initial thoughts, it wasn't all doom and gloom. Looking at Qantas earning credit cards, the ANZ Frequent Flyer Black, lowest bonus points offered was 90,000. Today, it sits at 130,000 points which is actually its peak offer. For a Velocity card, it's pretty much the same story. The American Express Velocity Platinum Card has fluctuated considerably over the six years however in 2019 it was offering 100,000 bonus points. In January of this year the same offer was available. It has since dropped back to 60,000. Bonus points may have passed their peak, but there are other benefits to being a card holder. Picture: American Express. Taylor Blackburn, personal finance specialist at Finder, explained while it may seem bonus offers have passed their peak, it isn't the case. 'Many of the points offers are cyclical and vary from month to month and year to year, but we are actually on an upswing of sorts. Bonus points are key, but not the only selection criteria.' Blackburn advises to consider the annual fee, earn rate and other features like lounge passes, insurance and purchase protection, not to mention that switching credit cards too often can impact your credit score. Tough times could be ahead The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has proposed changes that will impact credit cards starting mid-2026. The most relevant change is the RBA wanting to reduce the interchange fee. The interchange fee is what the merchant bank (the bank of the business where you are swiping your card) pays your credit card issuer every time you pay for something. Certain stores slap on a surcharge as a way to recoup some of the money lost when they pay the interchange fee. It may seem like a win, especially if surcharges disappear altogether, but it could become a problem for frequent flyer credit cards. We could see a shake up of frequent flyer programs in 2026. That's because banks typically points in bulk from airlines to then use as sign up bonuses and rewards. These points are partly funded by annual fees, however the real revenue comes from interest charges when you don't pay your statement in full every month and also, interchange fees. Reducing interchange fees could lead to not only a drop in bonus offers and points earned through spending on your credit card. In other news, Westpac is changing the points-earning rates on its range of Platinum and Black credit cards from 1 August. It is introducing a cap on monthly card spend that will earn points at the full rate. After a cardholder spends $5,000 in a statement cycle, the earn rate drops. See also: Why everyone's rushing to use their Qantas Frequent Flyer points by August 5 What's the best way to get the biggest bonus points offer? As Finder research shows, offers are cyclical and change month to month. If you're not in a rush, I would hold out till you see a better offer. One thing is for sure, I would make one last switch before mid-2026 when the landscape could drastically change. Have a question about points? Drop Sabine an email at escape@ Personal replies are unfortunately not possible. Originally published as Are banks getting tighter with frequent flyer bonus point offers?
AU Financial Review
5 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
China's bull market is forcing investors to finally take notice
The bull market raging in China has only just started to catch the attention of global money managers as a much-anticipated trade deal between Beijing and Washington injects a fresh wave of money into the sharemarket. Goldman Sachs says client interest in Chinese equities is at the highest it has been in recent years, helped by a 25 per cent rally for the MSCI China Index so far this year – the second-best start to a year since 2010. The broker is tipping another 11 per cent gain from here.
Perth Now
7 hours ago
- Perth Now
Aussie shares dip ahead of key inflation readout
The local share market has slipped ahead of a key inflation readout that could determine whether the Reserve Bank cuts rates next month. Near midday on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 29 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 8,666.8, while the broader All Ordinaries had fallen 35.9 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 8,927.6. Traders may have been taking something off the table ahead of the Australian Bureau of Statistics' release of second-quarter consumer price index data on Wednesday morning. HSBC chief ANZ economist Paul Bloxham said the bank expects the readout would show the RBA's preferred inflation metric to print at 0.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 2.7 per cent year-on-year, which HSBC sees as allowing the RBA to trim rates in August. But if trimmed mean inflation comes in at higher than that, an August rate cut would be less likely, Mr Bloxham said. In the US, the Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee is widely expected to leave rates on hold when it announces its latest decision early on Thursday Australian time, but its commentary will be closely scrutinised for a clue whether a rate cut might be possible in September. At midday every ASX sector was down except consumer discretionary, which had edged 0.1 per cent higher. The heavyweight mining sector was the biggest mover, dropping 0.5 per cent, with losses for all of the iron ore giants. Fortescue had fallen 1.6 per cent, BHP had slid 0.3 per cent and Rio Tinto had dipped 0.2 per cent. In the energy sector, Viva Energy had fallen 8.0 per cent after the OTR and Reddy Express petrol station owner said a big drop in tobacco sales had led to a 10 per cent decline in overall convenience sales in the first half. But Woodside was up 1.1 per cent as Australia's largest oil and gas producer announced it would assume operatorship of the offshore Bass Strait production assets it co-owns with ExxonMobil Australia. Uranium producers were down for a second day, with Paladin dropping 6.7 per cent and Boss Energy falling another 8.3 per cent, on top of Monday's 44 per cent plunge following word of issues at its Honeymoon mine in SA. In the financial sector, three of the four big retail banks were lower. CBA was down 0.2 per cent, ANZ had slipped 0.6 per cent and Westpac had dropped 0.3 per cent. NAB was the outlier, very marginally higher at $37.78. The Australian dollar had slipped further against its strengthening American counterpart, buying 65.28 US cents, from 65.50 US cents at 5pm on Friday.
