Afternoon Report | ASX falls, Fed cuts rates, Santos tumbles

This is the Fear and Greed Afternoon Report - everything you need to know about what happened in the markets, economy and world of business today, in just a few minutes.

1. Huge day on markets

2. New 2035 climate target

3. Kmart rebuked over facial recognition

4. Tesla rolls out self-driving in Australia

5. King Charles backs AUKUS 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report
for Thursday, the eighteenth of September twenty twenty five. Are
Michael Thompson and every afternoon we've got the five stories
that happened today that you need to know about.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Let's go with story number one. There is a lot
going on in markets today.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
The S and PA Sex two hundred fell zero point
eight percent today. That came after a relatively weak lead
in from Wall Street. Despite the Federal Reserve cutting interest
rates by a quarter of one percent overnight, the Fed
did flag a perhaps cautious approach to future cuts and
that affected Australian companies with US exposure. I think toll

(00:39):
road operator Transurban building supplies company James Hardy. They both
fell more than two percent today. But the big story
locally was Abu Dhabi National Oil Company withdrawing its thirty
six billion dollar takeover bid for Santos, which is of
course Australia's second biggest oil and gas producer. It was
announced late last night, came as a bit of a show,

(01:00):
and today investors sold off the stock. It closed nearly
twelve percent lower. The shares in Santos other energy companies
were also caught up in the sell off as well.
Woodside dropped six point three percent, Beach Energy was down
four point five percent. Commonwealth Bank lost a little bit
of ground today, little bit. There's actually two point three percent.
The other big banks barely moved. The other factor affecting

(01:21):
markets today was the labor force figures. We had an
unemployment steady at four point two percent, though economists say
the jobs market is softening after these figures showed five
four hundred people lost work in August. I told you
it was a massive day in markets today. On to
story number two. The Albanesi government has locked in a
new twenty thirty five climate target, committing to cut emissions

(01:44):
by between sixty two and seventy percent on two.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Thousand and five levels. The target was signed off by
cabinet this morning. It is lower than the Climate Change
Authority's original range of sixty five to seventy five percent,
but it's going to be underpinned by new policies across
the tricity, Transport and industry. Prime Minister Anthony Albernezi said
it is ambitious but achievable. Climate Minister Chris Bowen confirmed

(02:08):
anything above seventy percent was just not realistic. The federal
opposition has declared it is dead against the new target,
saying it fails on both cost and credibility.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
We're going to have a lot more on this one
in tomorrow morning show. Story number three. Kmart has been
found to have breached Australian's privacy over its use of
facial recognition technology. The Privacy watchdog ruled the retailer collected
sensitive biometric data without properly notifying or seeking consent from customers.
This was during a trial across twenty eight stores from

(02:39):
twenty twenty until twenty twenty two. Kmart, which is owned
by wes Farmers, says the technology was used to combat
refund fraud and arise in violent incidents against staff, but
the commissioner found the response was not proportionate. Bunnings, which
is also owned by West Farmers, was also rebuked last
year for similar breaches. At the same time, though, calls

(03:01):
for this kind of technology they are growing louder because
retailers are confronting surging crime rates. Story number four, How
about this one? Tesla has flicked the switch on its
full self driving supervised system in Australia. And New Zealand,
making them the first right hand drive markets in the
world to access the technology. Well then, fifty thousand owners

(03:23):
of Model three and Model Y vehicles equipped with the
latest hardware can now download the update. Those who paid
upfront for it a while ago will get first access.
Tesla insists that the system doesn't make cars autonomous. Drivers
will still need to have their hands on the wheel,
still need to be ready to take over at any time,
but this does mark the most advanced driver assistance tech

(03:46):
yet available on Australian roads. And finally, story number five,
King Charles has given a rare political message urging US
President Donald Trump to treat the Orcus submarine packed as
a vital alliance. Speaking at a state banquet at Windsor Castle,
the King linked the partnership to Britain and America's shared
history in two World Wars, while also calling for stronger

(04:08):
support for Ukraine. The remarks come at a very good
time for Australia, with the Pentagon reviewing the Orchestra program,
raising questions over the US President's commitment to it. This
was quite a banquet being held in the UK, though
guests there included business leaders like Apple's Tim Cook and
videos Jensen Huang. That's it for the afternoon Report for Thursday,

(04:30):
the eighteenth of September twenty twenty five. Make sure you
hit follow on the podcast and we'll be back tomorrow
morning with the Friday edition of Fair and Breed.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
I'm Mirk Thompson. Enjoy your evening.