Banks outperformed while mining companies faced challenges in paying dividends in the third quarter of 2023, according to the latest global dividend survey by Janus Henderson, a fund management firm.

The 0.1% drop in US retail sales for October has reinforced market belief that interest rates have halted their ascent, with the next move likely being a downward one—possibly in May.

Despite China's crude steel output falling for the fourth consecutive month in October, iron ore futures prices hit new 17-month highs on the SGX in Singapore on Wednesday.

In October, there were tentative signs of an uptick in Chinese economic activity. However, this positive news was counteracted by yet another drop in investment, particularly in the property sector.

Japan's economy contracted more than anticipated in the three months leading up to September, reversing the strong growth observed in the preceding three months until June.

Glencore has finally acquired the coal assets of Teck Resources, comprising high metallurgical coal mines in western Canada. The company intends to create a separate entity by merging these businesses.

Wall Street's view has shifted to no more rate rises and a potential rate cut sooner than expected. This change comes after a sharp decline in oil and petrol prices, causing US inflation to resume its downward trend in October, marking the first decrease in three months.

Oil giant Exxon Mobil aims to establish itself as a prominent player in the US lithium market. Unlike traditional methods of acquisition, Exxon is taking a grassroots approach, focusing on a novel production method.

The ANZ Bank's 2022-23 annual results, announced on Monday with their solid bottom line and higher dividends, have capped off the best year in five years for our Big Four banks: Commonwealth, NAB, Westpac, and ANZ.

Local investors will be looking for a solid start to ASX trading today after a 24 point jump on Friday night as Wall Street put together another solid week.

Oil prices might have bounced on Friday, with the rest of Wall Street but they still underwent a sell-off last week.

Just as Wall Street recovered nicely on Friday from another bout of bond market jitters on Thursday, Moody’s threw an enormous spanner in the works by pushing its US credit rating to a AAA negative from the long held AAA stable.

US October consumer prices and producer prices, Australian labour force and wages data, plus a few key earnings reports, as well as Chinese industrial production and retail sales will be the focus of attention this week.

Thanks to purchase subsidies, Chinese sales of so-called New Energy vehicles came within sight of topping the million units mark for a month in October.

Free to air tv advertising is currently down around 8% for the first quarter and a half of the 2023-24 financial year

For all the negative news coming from China this year on weak demand for steel products, weak exports, the property sector crunch and deflation, there is every likelihood the country could set a new all time annual high for imports of iron ore.

According to futures pricing, many in the huge US markets reckon the Federal Reserve will be cutting interest rates from mid 2024 onwards.

China entered deflation for the second time this year as food prices, particularly pork, dropped, causing consumer prices to decline by 0.2% in October.

Global oil prices dropped to new three-month plus lows on Wednesday. Fears related to the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East took a backseat to concerns about the strength of demand in 2024, particularly from US car drivers. This marked the third consecutive daily decline for the prices of the world's two major marker crudes, West Texas Intermediate and Brent.

Chinese insurer Ping An has denied any intentions to acquire the troubled property group, Country Garden. This denial comes in response to a lengthy Reuters report that claimed the Chinese government had requested Ping An to lead the rescue efforts for the country's second-largest developer.

The latest data on China’s foreign exchange reserves, issued late last week, showed the country bought a further 23 tonnes of the metal in October, marking the 12th successive month of active gold purchases.

In October, China's major commodity import data confirmed the uneven growth across its economy, even as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgraded its forecast for Chinese GDP growth to 5.4% for the year, up from the previous 5% estimate. The IMF attributed this improvement to recent measures to stimulate demand and support the property sector, which is expected to help the economy in the final months of the year.

In October 2023, China's foreign trade exhibited mixed results: exports declined more than expected, while imports showed a slight improvement after nine months of decline.