Afternoon Report | ASX steady as RBA pauses on rates
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What happened in the ASX after the RBA paused interest rates?
Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report for Tuesday the 16th of June 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 jump straight into story number one. The afternoon after the Reserve Bank left the cash rate on hold at 4.35%. With investors now weighing the central bank's warning that further rate hikes remain possible, the S&P ASX 200 rose just four points to 8,918 points. That's its highest close since April after opening much lower this morning. Now, Reserve Bank Governor Michelle Bullock said that the board's decision to pause did not rule out additional tightening if inflation proved more persistent than expected.
Bond yields in the Aussie dollar eased slightly following the decision. We'll take a much closer look. at the Reserve Bank's decision on tomorrow morning's episode. Energy stocks, though, led gains today despite oil prices slipping below US$83 a barrel with plenty of optimism still about the US-Iran peace agreement. The banks all gained ground. Both NAB and Westpac were up 1.2%. BHP hit another record while the interest rate-sensitive retailers and tech stocks, while they didn't have the best day,
What are the latest developments in M&A activity involving Atlas Arteria and Qube?
Wesfarmers, for instance, was off 1.1%. WiseTech Global down more than 4%. Story number two, Atlas Arteria has again urged shareholders to reject IFM investors $5.10 a share offer, saying that it materially undervalues the toll road group and fails to reflect an appropriate control premium. Even after recent amendments to the bid, Atlas has crept up the register to 38% of shares. At It was just one of the many corporate news stories around today. I'll give you a couple of others. Shareholders in logistics group Cube have approved an $11.7 billion takeover offer by Macquarie Asset Management-led consortium at a shareholder meeting in Sydney today. Karoon Energy's share price fell almost 12% after it downgraded its 2026 production outlook.
The group operates the oil and gas venture in the Gulf of Mexico, quirkily named the Houdat Floating... production system. That's right, Houdat. And one more, Southern Cross Electrical Engineering surged nearly 20% after exiting a trading halt following a $150 million institutional placement. It's hard to go past the Houdat floating production system though, isn't it? Story number three, Lincraft will close its remaining stores and shift entirely online, ending more than 80 years as one of Australia's best-known fabric, craft and homewares retailers.
Why is Lincraft closing its remaining stores?
The move will affect around 300 employees, with the company saying that all staff entitlements will be paid. Lincraft, though, cited changing consumer behavior, rising operating costs, and growing competition from low-cost overseas retailers as key reasons behind the decision. It does feel like it is becoming a familiar story. We've seen a string of retail closures, including barbecues galore, mosaic brands, highlighting the ongoing challenges that these traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers are having. As for Linkraft, it currently operates 28 company-owned stores, mostly along Australia's east coast with the closures expected over coming months. Story number four, SpaceX shares jumped another 20% overnight, taking the gains since last week's record-breaking IPO to more than 40% and pushing the company's market value above $2.5 trillion.
The Elon Musk-controlled company closed at $192.5 a share. up from its IPO price of $135. SpaceX is now the sixth most valuable listed company in the world, despite reporting a loss of almost $5 billion last year. The trading volumes here, though, remain enormous, more than 240 million shares changing hands. overnight after more than $500 million traded during Friday's debut. Elon Musk himself fueled a bit of investor excitement, as he tends to do, by suggesting that SpaceX revenue could approach $1 trillion US dollars by 2030. The company generated $18.7 billion in revenue last year. Finally, story number five, a serious one to finish on.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What happened in the ASX after the RBA paused interest rates?
0:03–1:21
2
What are the latest developments in M&A activity involving Atlas Arteria and Qube?
1:21–2:48
3
Why is Lincraft closing its remaining stores?
2:48–4:37
4
What factors contributed to SpaceX's recent surge in stock value?
4:37–5:36
5
What details are known about the recent B-52 bomber crash?
5:36–6:09
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from FEAR & GREED | Business News
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