Afternoon Report | Rates cut, ASX hits new high

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. ASX closes higher after interest rates cut

2. Bullock highlights poor productivity

3. Deloitte disciplines staff

4. SBS boss quits

5. Swift announces new album

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report
for Tuesday, the twelfth of August twenty twenty five. Are
Michael Thompson. Every afternoon, We've got the five stories that
happens today that you need to know about. So let's
get going. Story number one. The SMPASEX two hundred hit
another all time high today after the Reserve Bank Board
cut the official cash rate by a quarter of one percent.
The ASX climbed after the announcement. The rates were falling

(00:26):
to three point six percent, that is the lowest in
more than two years, with the BOSS hitting a new
intra day high of eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty
five point seven points. It came back ever so slightly
before the close, but still set a new closing high
of eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty point eight points.
It's a lot of eights, up zero point four percent.
The banks were the best performing sector. A and D

(00:48):
was up more than two percent. NAB and Westpac both
climbed around one percent, and Commonwealth, which wasn't having a
great day to start with, reversed its earlier losses to
end up just a touch. Iron Ore prices all so
climbed late in the day, BHP, Rio, Tinto and Fortescue
were all closing about one percent higher. JB HI Fi
reversed yesterday's losses up five point six percent, fueled perhaps

(01:11):
by hopes that households will spend some of those interest
rate cut savings. The single best performer, though was Life
three point sixty, with the tracking app jumping seven point
eight percent after it reported better than expected second quarter results.
Under story number two, now and Reserve Bank Governor Michelle
Bullock highlighted Australia's ongoing problems with productivity as being a
key challenge for the economy, good timing with the Productivity

(01:34):
round Table happening next week, and to that end, Treasure
Jim Chalmers has declared that Australia must find a quote
responsible middle path in using artificial intelligence to unlock productivity gains.
The Productivity Commission last week released a report suggesting that
a light touch on AI regulation could boost the Australian
economy by well over one hundred billion dollars over the

(01:56):
next decade. The report has courted controversy with its recis
commendations around removing copyright protections for creative works, but doctor
Chalmers says, there are this is a quote, people who
say just let it rip, and people who pretend that
we can turn back the clock. None of those are
realistic options for Australia. We're working very hard to make
sure that we find that responsible middle path so we

(02:18):
can capture the tremendous upsides of AI at the same
time as we manage the very real risks, whether that
is too creators or workers and the like. Sounds like
there's plenty more to come on this one. Story number three.
Deloitte disciplined more than one hundred personnel last year for misconduct,
from harassment and rude behavior to setting unfair work demands. Overall,

(02:39):
one hundred and forty six staff were investigated, down from
two hundred and six complaints recorded in twenty twenty four.
Most behavioral breaches involved poor leadership or policy violations, with
some staff sent to counseling or training and fourteen sacked.
Rival KPMG reported thirty seven misconduct complaints last year, including
twelve sexual harassment cases, and disciplined multiple staff. Onto story

(03:03):
number four and SBS boss James Taylor is calling it
quits at the Public broadcaster and doubling his pay in
the process to take over a CEO of outdoor advertising
giant OH Media. Taylor has been with SBS for thirteen years,
first a CFO and then seven years in the hot seat,
but is leaving the public broadcaster despite having three years
remaining on his contract. He leaves the network in what

(03:24):
the acting chair called remarkable health, freshof record audiences, more
original local content, and exclusive rights to the twenty twenty
six FIFA Men's World Cup. But how about this number?
In this new role, James Taylor will earn more than
one point eight million dollars at OH Media. That's nearly
double his SBS package. And finally, story number five, the

(03:46):
only thing almost capable of stealing the RBAS thunder this
afternoon was an announcement from Taylor Swift, with the pop
star using a countdown timer on her website to reveal
her new album, which was announced just eighteen mins min
It's before the RBA decision. Now why am I mentioning
this on a business podcast? Well, Taylor Swift's business prowess
is undeniable. Really, her world tour brought in three point

(04:09):
four billion dollars across two years and five continents, the
highest grossing tour of all time. Associated Press reports the
new album is the first since Swift purchased back her
catalog of recordings from its most recent owner, the private
equity firm Shamrock Capital, for an undisclosed sum, and the
new record, for what it's worth, is called The Life

(04:29):
of a Showgirl. That's it for the Afternoon Report for Tuesday,
the twelfth of August twenty twenty five. Make sure you
hit follow on the podcast and we'll be back tomorrow
morning with the Wednesday edition of Fear and Greed. I'm
Michael Thompson. Enjoy your evening,