ASX to edge up, S&P 500 pares early losses
Still, the tide turned during the session and Wall Street significantly pared its losses with the Dow turning mildly positive late.
Nerves are fraying in part because of a renewed attack on the Federal Reserve by President Donald Trump and his allies, as well as uncertainty before a key speech by Fed chairman Jerome Powell on Friday (Saturday AEST).
Most Federal Reserve officials highlighted the risk to inflation as outweighing concerns over the labour market at their meeting last month, as tariffs fuelled a growing divide within the central bank's rate-setting committee, Bloomberg reported.
Officials acknowledged worries over higher inflation and weaker employment, but 'a majority of participants judged the upside risk to inflation as the greater of these two risks,' the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's July 29-30 meeting said.
Market highlights
ASX 200 futures are pointing up 22 points or 0.3 per cent to 8901.
All US prices near 3.55pm New York time.
Today's agenda
NZ will release July trade data at 8.45am AEST, while August PMIs are expected from Australia at 9.30am AEST, then through the day Japan, the UK, Eurozone and the US. Australian August consumer inflation expectations are set for release at 11am AEST.
Late Thursday, weekly US jobless claims will be released and the Fed's Jackson Hole, Wyoming three-day gathering of global central bankers begins.
The full agenda of the Fed gathering, sponsored by the Kansas City Fed, will be available at kansascityfed.org on Thursday at 8pm Eastern US time (10am AEST Friday)
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks will be streamed on the Kansas City Fed's YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/kansascityfed, on Friday, August 22, at 10am Eastern US time (12am AEST Saturday).
Top stories
Children with mild autism removed from NDIS to fix the budget | The government is taking budget repair seriously, announcing plans to rein in the ballooning costs of the NDIS and tackling the pension deeming rate.
Push to give 2m office workers a WFH 'bias' | In a major test case that will set the standard for white-collar workers, unions want to extend Commonwealth WFH rights to the private sector.
| Treasurer Jim Chalmers has said he will consider adjusting the test to remove barriers for long-term investments in housing and clean energy.
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Herald Sun
18 minutes ago
- Herald Sun
Treasurer Jim Chalmers hails ‘consensus' on new tax that will be phased in starting with EV vehicles
Don't miss out on the headlines from On the Road. Followed categories will be added to My News. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has emerged from his three-day economic roundtable with '10 clear areas' for reform and consensus on a new regime of road user charges to replace petrol excise. Wrapping up the talks in Canberra on Thursday night, the Treasurer confirmed that he will hold further talks with the states on September 5. Based on a planned NSW road user scheme, a national rollout will depend on your mileage but might cost between $300 and $400 a year. But there's no clear guidance yet on how much the new tax will cost, whether it will entirely replace petrol excise over time or when it will apply to EV cars and hybrids. The Treasurer also talked up reforms to harness the power of artificial intelligence, slashing red tape to build more new houses, abolishing nuisance tariffs, establishing a single national market and tax reform. 'There was a lot of support in the room for road user charging,'' the Treasurer said on Thursday night. 'There wasn't a final model settled, but there was a lot of conceptual support for road user charging.' 'There was more than the usual amount of consensus in a conceptual way around road user charging. A lot of reform appetite in that area, which is welcome. 'The states are putting together an options paper and to give you a sense of the considerations that people in the room were grappling with. 'Right around the table people had a view that this is an idea whose time has come and so we will do that work.' Get all the latest Australian news as it happens — download the app direct to your phone. Based on a planned NSW road user scheme, a national rollout will depend on your mileage but might cost between $300 and $400 a year./AFP Tax reform On tax, the Treasurer said that participants had 'a few hours of very welcome conversation and debate about the future of the tax system'. He said that there was support to address three objectives in the tax system. 'The first one is about a fair go for working people and including in intergenerational equity terms,' he said. 'That's the first category. The second one was about an affordable, responsible way to incentivise business investment, recognising the capital deepening challenge that we have in the economy and what that means for productivity and for growth. 'And then thirdly, how we make the system simpler, more sustainable so that we can fund the services that people need, particularly in the context of the big shifts in our community, including ageing and other pressures as well. How EV tax could be rolled out Treasurer Chalmers said he would now hold further talks with state and territory treasurers on September 5. reported earlier this month that Australia's new tax on electric vehicle drivers is set to kick off with a trial period for trucks before it stings cars. The Albanese Government is looking at a staged rollout to test the proposed new EV tax and trucks will be the first cab off the rank. It is also interested in a new road user charge that sends price signals on the best time to be on the road, or the freeway. Over time, it could replace petrol taxes and apply to all cars based on distance travelled and when cars and trucks are on the road to tackle congestion. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has emerged from his three-day economic roundtable with '10 clear areas' for reform and consensus on a new regime of road user charges to replace petrol excise. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman Free ride for EVs nearly over The free ride enjoyed by drivers of electric vehicles is coming to a close with Treasurer Chalmers and state governments finalising plans for a new road-user charge. All Australian motorists who buy petrol and diesel at the bowser pay 51.6 cents a litre in fuel excise. But drivers of EV vehicles pay nothing. 'The status quo won't be sustainable over the next decade or two,'' Treasurer Jim Chalmers told 'As more and more people get off petrol cars and into EVs we've got to make sure that the tax arrangements support investment in roads. 'But we're in no rush, changes of this nature will be made, because the status quo won't work in 10 or 20 years.' The Treasurer made no secret of his support for a road user charge before the election, but favours a staged rollout of the changes. Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas said that electric vehicles are 'heavier and do more damage to the road network as a consequence than do internal combustion engine vehicles'. 'By giving drivers a clear signal about the cost of infrastructure, they would have an incentive to use it more efficiently,' the Productivity Commission report said. The free ride enjoyed by drivers of electric vehicles is coming to a close with Treasurer Jim Chalmers and state governments finalising plans for a new road-user charge. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) How does fuel excise work? The current rate of fuel excise is 51.6 cents in excise for every litre of fuel purchased. For a typical household with a car running on petrol, the tax costs more than $1200 a year. But the flat sales tax isn't paid by drivers of pure electric vehicles, who simply need to plug in their cars to recharge. While registration and driver's licence fees go to state and territory governments, fuel excise is collected by the federal government. Australian motorists paid an estimated $15.71 billion in net fuel excise in 2023-24, and are expected to pay $67.6 billion over the four years to 2026-27. However, governments have long-warned that a road-user charge will be required to fill the gap in the budget left by declining revenue from the fuel excise, as the petrol and diesel engines in new cars consume less fuel and Australians adopt hybrid and electric cars. What does the AAA say? The Australian Automobile Association (AAA) is calling for a national approach to road-user charging but wants a guarantee the revenue will be earmarked for road upgrades. The AAA backs a distance-based road-user charging as a fairer and more equitable way to fund land transport infrastructure. The 2024 federal budget forecasted a reduction in fuel excise receipts by $470 million over four years from 2024-25. Roadblocks to reform Currently, New South Wales is the only state with firm plans to introduce a road-user charge from 2027 or when EVs reach 30 per cent of new car sales. Plug-in hybrid EVs will be charged a fixed 80 per cent proportion of the full road-user charge to reflect their vehicle type. Western Australia has also stated an intention to implement a road-user charge. Meanwhile, Victoria's electric vehicle levy had to be scrapped following a ruling from the High Court. Two Victorian electric car owners launched a legal challenge on the basis the tax was not legal as it was an excise that only a federal government could impose. They won, with the High Court upholding the legal challenge. There have been several false starts to enshrine a road-user charge including in South Australia, where the former Liberal Government planned to introduce a charge for plug-in electric and other zero emission vehicles, which included a fixed component and a variable charge based on distance travelled. It was later pushed back to 2027 due to a backlash before the legislation was ultimately repealed. Originally published as Treasurer Jim Chalmers hails 'consensus' on new tax that will be phased in starting with EV vehicles
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Trump hails 'total victory' as US court quashes $464 mn civil penalty
A US court threw out Thursday a $464 million civil penalty against President Donald Trump imposed by a judge who found he fraudulently inflated his personal worth, calling the sum "excessive" but upholding the judgment against him. Judge Arthur Engoron ruled against Trump in February 2024 at the height of his campaign to retake the White House, which coincided with several active criminal prosecutions that the Republican slammed as "lawfare." "It was a Political Witch Hunt, in a business sense, the likes of which no one has ever seen before," Trump said on his Truth Social platform Thursday, adding that "everything I did was absolutely CORRECT and, even, PERFECT." When Engoron originally ruled against Trump, he ordered the mogul-turned-politician to pay $464 million, including interest, while his sons Eric and Don Jr. were told to hand over more than $4 million each. The judge found that Trump and his company had unlawfully inflated his wealth and manipulated the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms. Alongside the financial hit to Trump, the judge also banned him from running businesses for three years, which the president repeatedly referred to as a "corporate death penalty." On Thursday, five judges of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court upheld the verdict, but ruled that the size of the fine was "excessive" and that it "violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution." The Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive or cruel punishments and penalties. - 'Massive win! - State Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the initial case, vowed to take Thursday's ruling to the state's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals. Thursday's appeals court ruling "affirmed the well-supported finding of the trial court: Donald Trump, his company, and two of his children are liable for fraud," James added. Following the initial verdict, Trump subsequently sought to challenge the civil ruling as well as the scale and terms of the penalty, which has continued to accrue interest while he appeals. He repeatedly condemned the case and the penalty as politically motivated. His son Don Jr. termed the appellate court ruling a "massive win!!!" "New York Appeals Court has just THROWN OUT President Trump's $500+ Million civil fraud penalty! It was always a witch hunt, election interference, and a total miscarriage of justice... and even a left leaning NY appeals court agrees! NO MORE LAWFARE!" he wrote on X. During hearings, conducted without a jury under state law, Trump accused then-president Joe Biden of driving the case, calling it "weaponization against a political opponent who's up a lot in the polls." As the case was civil, not criminal, there was no threat of imprisonment. Trump's economic advisor Peter Navarro said at the White House Thursday that "James is another one that belongs in jail," referring to the New York attorney general. "The Democrats really overplayed their hand on this because they thought they could take Donald Trump out," he said.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
EU gets 15% US tariff for cars, but fails to get wine reprieve
The US and EU released details of a trade deal Thursday that foresees lower car tariffs but no relief for Europe's wine sector, but Brussels said it would push for further concessions. US President Donald Trump and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clinched a framework accord in July for most EU exports to face a 15-percent US levy. But many aspects remained unclear, as the EU sought to win carve-outs for some sectors and Trump threatened higher tariffs on others. A joint statement Thursday brought some clarity, although negotiations are not over and some moving parts remain. The "maximum, all-inclusive" 15-percent rate would apply to the vast majority of European exports, including cars, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber, the EU said. "This is the most favourable trade deal the US has extended to any partner," EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic told journalists in Brussels, explaining the levy will not come on top of existing tariffs. In recent weeks Trump had raised the possibility of additional tariffs hitting certain sectors such as pharmaceuticals, which account for 20 percent of the EU's exports to the United States, and semiconductors. Sefcovic said he was confident that the rate for cars, which is lower than the current 27.5 percent, will apply retroactively from August 1, having received assurances on the matter from his US counterpart. But this will happen only once the EU introduces legislation to eliminate its own tariffs on US industrial products, something Sefcovic said the commission was "working very hard" on. Welcoming the clarity provided by the joint statement, Sigrid de Vries, director of European auto lobby ACEA, urged the commission to implement its part of the deal "without delay, mitigating the tariff impact which already has cost automakers millions of euros in duties every day." - Wine woes - The 15-percent rate will also apply to wine and spirits despite a push by France, Italy and other wine-making countries to win a zero tariff exemption. "Unfortunately, here we didn't succeed," Sefcovic said, adding negotiations would continue, but did not want to give "false promises". "These doors are not closed forever," he said. The French wine exporters federation said it was "hugely disappointed". "We are certain that this will create major difficulties for the wines and spirits sector," said the head of the wine and spirits federation FEVS Gabriel Picard. Christophe Chateau, a spokesman for a group representing Bordeaux wine producers, described this as "bad news" -- but better than the worst case scenario, with Trump that had at one point threatened tariffs as high as 200 percent. "It further hinders the trade and export of Bordeaux wines to the United States," which is by far their largest market, Chateau told AFP. The US Distilled Spirits Council, a trade group, also expressed disappointment, saying it favoured tariff-free trade on both sides of the Atlantic. "These new higher tariffs on EU spirits products will further compound the challenges facing restaurants and bars nationwide," said the group's CEO, Chris Swonger. - Bisons and planes - French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said his government would seek "additional exemptions" in the trade deal. The office of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the agreement was "not yet an ideal or final point" but a "trade war" had been avoided. Under the agreement, the EU committed to significantly improving market access to a range of US seafood and agricultural goods, including tree nuts, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, pork and bison meat. On the other hand, a special more favourable regime will apply as of September 1 to a number of EU exports to the US including "unavailable natural resources" such as cork, all aircraft and aircraft parts and generic pharmaceuticals. These would effectively face a "zero or close to zero" rate, the commission said. "Faced with a challenging situation, we have delivered for our Member States and industry, and restored clarity and coherence to transatlantic trade," said commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. "This is not the end of the process, we continue to engage with the US to agree more tariff reductions, to identify more areas of cooperation, and to create more economic growth potential".
