Weekly Wrap

Treasurer Jim Chalmers presented his third consecutive budget on Tuesday night, marking a significant milestone with a back-to-back surplus of $9.3 billion – a feat not seen in almost two decades.

China's car market slowed in April, and had it not been for a reasonable performance by the still-growing new energy vehicle sector, total sales would have looked forlorn. However, while sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) did fall in April, the sector’s share of total vehicle sales jumped to a record high, as sales of conventionally powered ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles slid faster than sales of NEVs.

In the current landscape of the oil industry, mergers and acquisitions have emerged as a predominant theme. Notable players such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Diamondback Energy, and Occidental Petroleum have engaged in substantial oil deals over the past year, collectively exceeding $150 billion in value.

Amid China’s unexpected 8% surge in imports, iron ore shipments into the country stood out with a stronger-than-expected outcome, while oil and coal imports were also solid.

The Albanese government is set to defy global trends with the release of a comprehensive plan today, backing the continued extraction and use of gas beyond 2050.

Tesla might be the world’s most valuable carmaker by market value, but Japan’s Toyota Motor has confirmed its giant status when it comes to sales, revenues, and earnings, completely outclassing Elon Musk’s tattered company.

Even China can't stomach spending too much money buying gold at record levels – something the players in the gold market forgot when they reported this week that the country's central bank made another purchase in April.

How desperate is Tesla's Elon Musk? Quite a lot, judging by his almost plea-like call for Warren Buffett to buy Tesla shares after Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting on Saturday.

BYD, the world’s biggest maker of electrified vehicles, didn’t escape the fallout from China’s EV price wars in the first quarter of 2024.

You know Apple’s board and management understand the trouble the company is in with investors. Why else would it, after a better-than-expected set of figures for the March quarter, boost dividends and announce a record buyback?

"Mining, Metals and the Circular Economy" will take place alongside the International Mining and Resources Conference on 29 & 30 October at the ICC Sydney, bringing together experts and thought leaders in the mining sector for a dynamic exchange of ideas and best practices.

Canadian miner Barrick Gold topped earnings estimates for the March quarter, bolstered by a rally in bullion prices during the period.

No easy gains are left across the Tasman for the newish conservative National Party-led government, with a sharp rise in unemployment, an unwanted pay rise offered, and a surprise opinion poll showing a swing back to the Labour Party, seven months after it lost office.

The chances rose Tuesday that the European Central Bank will be the first major central bank to cut interest rates, as early as June. This comes after euro area inflation remained unchanged in April at 2.4% (according to the first estimate), and the area returned to economic growth in the three months to March.

Business media got all excited about the quarterly results from Amazon, which were much better than expected. However, the outlook was weaker than expected for another quarter.

For markets, April was like a famous quote from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities – "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times" – starting with promise, running up, and then taking a crunching in the final days of the month.

As suspected by foreign economists, activity across the Chinese economy expanded in April, though at a slower rate than seen in March's rebound.

Origin Energy’s (ASX:ORG) best investment isn’t in Australia – it's the 23% stake in Britain's Octopus Energy, which is going from strength to strength. In fact, Octopus has just become Britain's largest domestic electricity supplier by customer numbers, after the company added 1.3 million accounts following its takeover of Shell Energy late last year. The performance was a standout bright spot for Origin in its March quarterly report out Tuesday.

Alphabet (Google) has transitioned into the sphere of mundane industrials, aligning itself with the likes of Apple and Meta by initiating dividend payments.

The Mag Seven megatech story took a hit as a weak revenue forecast from Meta Platforms caused shares to plunge 16% in after-hours trading on Wednesday, dragging other shares down with them.

In the latest session of the ongoing inquiry probing the Star Group's suitability to hold a casino license, alarming revelations surfaced, painting a bleak picture of the company's current state under existing management and board.

There are some overly optimistic investors in the US—why else would they boost the share price of EV pioneer Tesla after the company reported its worst quarterly performance in more than a decade, revealing a more than halving in profitability in the first three months of the year?

Both Moody’s and Fitch have put China on a negative outlook for its credit rating. S&P Global has taken a different stance, suggesting that the country’s fiscal stimulus is running out of steam and might need to be topped up.

Friday, it was equities that sold off on higher risk, even though there were signs the Israelis had not really retaliated against Iran. Despite that, gold was boosted by a bit of safe-haven buying.