Afternoon Report | ASX down 0.2pc; reports of Iran offer
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Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report for Monday, the 27th of April, 2026. I'm Michael Thompson, and every afternoon we've got the five stories that happened today that you need to know about. Let's go with story number one.
Why did the ASX close lower today?
The S&P ASX 200 closed 0.2% lower today to 8,766 points. That is a three-week low, but trading volumes were a touch subdued today by the public holiday in New South Wales and the ACT, as well as in Western Australia. Giving a little bit of optimism to investors, reports that Iran had proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz but delaying nuclear talks. That offer apparently came via Pakistani mediators. The oil price was up today but not as much as it was earlier in the day. Utilities locally were the weakest sector, dragged lower by Origin Energy. Energy, which fell 5% after weaker LNG revenue and a downgrade to earnings expectations for its UK-based Octopus Energy business. Energy stocks also declined.
Woodside Energy and Santos were both lower, while the banks were mixed. The gains were led by the gold miners. Newmont, for instance, was up nearly 7% today. Evolution climbed 2.5%. while Atlas Arteria jumped 13% today after a $7 billion takeover bid. We'll have more on that one tomorrow morning. Story number two, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sent a message to US President Donald Trump following a shooting at the White House Correspondents Association dinner in Washington over the weekend. A 31-year-old man identified as Cole Thomas Allen allegedly forced his way through security at the Washington Hilton Hotel. hotel armed with a handgun and shotgun, injuring a Secret Service agent. More details about the event have now emerged.
Authorities say that a manifesto written shortly before the attack suggests that he was targeting Trump administration officials and that he referred to himself as the friendly federal assassin. Now, Trump has described the suspect as very troubled, saying he had a lot of hatred in his heart. It's not known whether the Prime Minister has received a response to his message that he sent to the President after the incident. Story number three, the cost of Snowy Hydro 2.0 has ballooned to as much as $42 billion, prompting calls for a royal commission into what critics describe as one of Australia's biggest infrastructure failures. The Australian newspaper reports economist Bruce Mountain and energy executive Ted Woodley say the project is now around 20 times more expensive than originally promised under Malcolm Turnbull.
They argue that the true cost has been obscured through off-budget accounting with additional spending on transmission and financing not fully disclosed. Concerns have also been raised that the project may not deliver lower energy prices despite being designed essentially as a large-scale battery to store renewable energy. Story number four, Google and Meta have transferred nearly $11 billion offshore through internal payments while paying just over $140 million in Australian tax. A report in the Australian Financial Review says that filings show Meta generated... $1.8 billion in Australian revenue and paid $48 million in tax, while Google reported $2.4 billion in revenue and paid $94 million in tax.
Both companies operate locally as resellers, booking significant service payments to overseas entities, which is a common practice known as transfer pricing. The figures, though, are likely to fuel ongoing debate about whether global tech giants are paying their fair share of tax in Australia. Story number five, last one. The U.S. Justice Department has ended its investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, removing a key obstacle to the appointment of his potential successor. The probe, which we've talked a bit about over the past couple of months, focused on cost overruns in a 2.5% billion US dollar renovation project, but found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. When the investigation was announced back in January, it prompted a very passionate response from Jerome Powell, declaring it to be essentially politically motivated because of his defiance of US President Donald Trump on interest rates.
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Chapters
2 chaptersSpeakers
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