Qantas has told investors that chief executive Alan Joyce will stay on until at the least the end of next year, while the ASX has regained its losses in lunchtime trade. 

Qantas held its annual general meeting (AGM) today amid criticism over delayed flights and lost baggage, and calls by unions for Mr Joyce to resign. 

Chairman Richard Goyder told the meeting that Mr Joyce is expected to stay on until at least the end of 2023. 

Meanwhile, Qantas said it will spend $200 million to improve its performance. 

The funds will be used to roster additional crew, train new recruits and have an extra 20 planes on standby to reduce delays and cancellations. 

The airline said more flights were on time and there were fewer cancellations last month, after hitting a low point in July because of high levels of sick leave and supply chain delays. 

It said flight cancellations were down to 2.2 per cent, below pre-pandemic levels. 

The level of lost baggage remained at six in every 1,000 passengers. 

The airline said nearly three quarters of flights departed on time, up from 69 per cent in September, despite the impact of floods in New South Wales and Victoria. 

Mr Goyder told the AGM that long queues, flight delays, and lost baggage were not caused by the outsourcing of baggage handlers, but by the impact of COVID-19. 

He said the pandemic cost the airline $7 billion in losses and more than $25 billion in revenue over two years. 

Mr Joyce again apologised for the airline's performance.

"There were too many flight delays, long call-centre waits and mishandled bags."

Ninety per cent of votes cast were in support of the company's executive pay plans, while around 9 per cent of investors opposed the plans. 

Qantas shares reversed their early losses, and rose by 0.2 per cent at 12:30pm AEDT.

ASX movers 

The share market recouped its early losses over lunchtime.

At 12:40pm AEDT, the All Ordinaries index rose 0.14 per cent, to 7,061, and the ASX 200 index gained 0.1 per cent o 6,866.

Six sectors rose on the market, while five sectors fell. 

The gains were led by industrials, energy firms, utilities and miners, while healthcare stocks and financials led the falls. 

Payments firm Block (+10.5 per cent) was the best performer on the ASX 200 after better than expected third quarter profit, while gold miner Ramelius Resources (-4.7 per cent) did the worst. 

Investment company Pendal Group (-0.9 per cent) dropped after net profit fell by one third for the financial year to $113 million.

Disgraced casino group Star Entertainment said three of its businesses had received show cause notices from Queensland's gaming regulator after it was deemed unsuitable to hold a gaming licence in the state last month. 

That means Star could be fined, or have its gaming licence cancelled or suspended, or a special manager could be appointed to run its operations. 

Star shares rose 0.7 per cent to $2.97.

The Australian dollar tumbled overnight. 

It regained some ground after the Reserve Bank forecast that core inflation would peak at 6.5 per cent in December,  higher than previously estimated. 

At 12:40pm AEDT, it was buying 63 US cents, up 0.2 per cent. 

Wall Street in the red

US stocks closed lower for the fourth session in a row as economic data showing a strong jobs market continued expectations the Federal Reserve would keep raising rates. 

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, despite slowing domestic demand and steep rate hikes by the Fed. 

The Dow Jones index fell 0.5 per cent to 32,001, the S&p 500 lost 1.1 per cent to 3,720, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.7 per cent to 10,343. 

Investors weighed hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell after the Fed raised interest rates yesterday for the sixth time this year to curb runaway inflation. 

Mr Powell said it was premature to think about pausing rate rises and the Fed would likely raise its forecast for how high official rates would go. 

Oil prices dropped as the increase in the US rates pushed up the greenback and heightened fears of a global recession that would curb fuel demand. 

Brent crude oil fell 1.6 per cent to $US94.62 US cents a barrel. 

Spot gold dropped to a six-month low as the dollar gained. 

It fell 0.6 per cent to $US1,625.91 an ounce. 

UK faces long recession

The Bank of England made the biggest increase in interest rates since 1989, and warned the UK will face the longest recession on record.

The UK central bank lifted official interest rates by 0.75 per cent from 2.25 per cent to 3 per cent, the biggest single hike in rates in more than three decades. 

It said that England was facing the longest recession since records began, with the economic downturn expected to continue for another two years. 

The Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said that meant borrowing costs could rise by less than expected. 

The Bank of England expects inflation will hit a 40-year high of about 11 per cent this year, more than five times its 2 per cent target. 

It thinks the UK economy is already in recession, and unemployment is expected to double by late 2025 to 6.5 per cent. 

The FTSE 100 index erased its losses and rose 0.6 per cent, to 7,188 as the pound fell against the greenback. 

Technology and real estate firms weighed on the market, while energy and healthcare stocks led the gains. 

The DAX in Germany fell nearly 1 per cent to 13,130, while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.5 per cent to 6,243. 

ABC/Reuters