Shares in Brett Blundy-chaired jewellery seller Lovisa plunged 10.4 per cent after the company revealed that it had appointed Smiggle managing director John Cheston as its new chief executive.
Stationary and office retailer Smiggle is operated by Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments, which saw its shares tumble 4.1 per cent. Neuren Pharmaceuticals finished 6.3 per cent lower and gold producer RED 5 dipped 5.6 per cent.
Regal Investment Fund shares rose 3.7 per cent after the company revealed a $235 million deal to buy fund manager Merricks Capital.
Northern Minerals shares were flat after Treasurer Jim Chalmers ordered Chinese investors who own shares in the aspiring rare earths miner to sell more than 10 per cent of their stake, as the Australian government sharpens its focus on supply chain security.
The lowdown
The Fair Work Commission announced a decision to raise the minimum wage rate by 3.75 percentage points – lower than unions’ demand of 5 per cent but higher than employer group wishes of 2 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
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“The 3.75 per cent decision struck the appropriate balance in our view and remained consistent with the decision of recent years to deliver an increase broadly in line with the inflation rate to ensure real wages do not contract,” wrote Royal Bank of Canada chief economist Su-Lin Ong in a note to clients.
Looking at the economy, HSBC does not expect Australia’s economic growth figures – due out later this week – to be strong, and it does not have high hopes for the supply side of the economy, either.
“Weak supply is the primary reason that we expect inflation to remain sticky and see the RBA as unlikely to cut [interest rates] in 2024 – with a chance they may have to hike again,” wrote HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham in a research note to clients.
“The key explanation is that the pandemic and pandemic-related policy responses have had long-tail disruptive effects on the economy that are taking time to resolve. The bottom line is that if the supply side of the economy is weaker, the potential growth rate (at least in the short run) is lower, so the economy will need to grow more slowly for longer to get inflation to come down. For the central banks, this likely means higher for longer interest rates.”
Wall Street closed May with a flourish.Credit: AP
On Friday, key Wall Street indices wound up May with more solid gains after an encouraging report on US inflation.
The S&P 500 Index jumped 0.8 per cent to close out its sixth winning month in the past seven. The main measure of the US stockmarket’s health set a record high late in the month, clawing back all its losses after a tough April.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fared even better, surging 1.5 per cent, but sagging prices for some big tech stocks held back the Nasdaq Composite index, dragging it to a loss of about 0.1 per cent.
Equities received a broad-based boost from easing Treasury yields in the bond market after the latest reading on US inflation came in as expected. The report showed inflation remained at 2.7 per cent last month, as forecast. That could bolster confidence at the Federal Reserve that inflation is heading towards its target of 2 per cent, something it says it needs before it will cut its main interest rate.
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“In this case, I find that the employment relationship between the applicant and the ABC was terminated at the ABC’s initiative.” That’s the ruling of Fair Work Commission deputy president Gerard Boyce regarding Antoinette Lattouf’s unlawful dismissal case against the ABC, which tried to have the case thrown out on grounds she was not sacked because she was hired on a casual contract and paid in full for five days’ work.
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Is it rabbit season or duck season? It’s certainly poaching season among the two biggest retail rag trader billionaires, Solomon Lew and Brett Blundy, who are scouring the retail landscape for prized executive scalps. But it was Blundy who scored big this week, bagging Smiggle boss John Cheston, who isn’t just any old retail executive but the man credited with the operational success of the kids’ stationery group controlled by Lew.
AP
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