Qantas reported a 15% jump in full-year earnings and ordered more Airbus SE jets as demand for flights shows little sign of faltering. Underlying pretax profit in the 12 months ended June climbed to A$2.39 billion ($1.6 billion), Qantas said Thursday. The airline ordered 20 additional A321XLR aircraft.
Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson Photographer: Matthieu Rondel/Bloomberg
Meanwhile, Air New Zealand posted a 15% drop in full-year earnings as engine maintenance issues hurt revenue, and indicated there is no immediate relief in sight. Pretax profit fell to NZ$189 million in the 12 months through June, the Auckland-based airline said Thursday.
Investors are hammering shares of Australian companies that miss expectations during the busiest stretch of the country’s August reporting season. Woolworths, Domino’s Pizza and WiseTech Global are the latest in a string of firms whose share prices have been whacked after underwhelming results.
Australia’s monthly inflation accelerated faster than expected in July, moving closer to the top of the Reserve Bank’s 2-3% target and supporting a gradual approach to cutting interest rates.
Rio Tinto’s new chief executive officer has combined some of its biggest businesses as he looks to simplify the world’s No. 2 miner. Simon Trott was appointed CEO earlier this year and has been tasked with cutting costs and focusing on Rio’s best assets at a time when it has major growth projects coming online.
And finally, rival BHP Group never seems to pick the right moment to sell its fossil fuel businesses, writes Bloomberg Opinion’s David Fickling.
What happened overnight
Here’s what my colleague, market strategist Mike “Willo” Wilson says happened while we were sleeping…
US stocks fell late in the session, trimming small gains after earnings of tech giant Nvidia failed to impress investors. Short-dated Treasuries continued to climb amid bets on Federal Reserve policy easing, following the recent announcement by President Donald Trump that he was firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook. The Aussie dollar edged higher for a second day, while the kiwi and the US dollar were little changed Wednesday. Australia has a survey of how much private capital expenditure companies have planned for the current financial year and New Zealand has ANZ business confidence slated. ASX futures point to a flat open for local equities.
More on Nvidia: The AI chipmaker,the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, gave a tepid revenue forecast for the current period, signaling that growth is decelerating after a staggering two-year boom in AI spending.
Nvidia Corp. signage during the Nvidia GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
The Mexican government plans to increase tariffs on China as part of its 2026 budget proposal next month, protecting the nation’s businesses from cheap imports and satisfying a longstanding demand of the US president.
In other tariff news, Indian exporters hit by a 50% US trade impost say they can’t survive without government support, as calls for relief grow. The tariffs — which took effect Wednesday in Washington — doubled the previous 25% duty and are now among the highest in Asia.
What to watch
All times Sydney: • 11.30 a.m. — Australia’s 2Q private capital expenditure
One more thing...
India is executingone of the boldest bets in modern retail — delivering nearly anything to your doorstep in less time than it takes to hard-boil an egg. Startups are jostling with Amazon.com and Walmart-backed Flipkart to blanket the nation’s cities with small, hyperlocal warehouses and delivery riders — promising groceries, electronics, and in some cases, even gold coins in under ten minutes.
A picker rushes to package an order for 10 minute delivery at a Flipkart dark store at Panathur in Bengaluru, India. Photographer: Sameer Raichur/Bloomberg
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