Afternoon Report | Oil price jump hits market
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report for Friday, the 24th of July, 2026. I'm Sean Aylmer. Every afternoon, we've got the five stories that happened today that you need to know about.
Why did the ASX 200 close lower today and which sectors were hit?
Story number one, the S&P ASX 200 closed lower today, falling three quarters of a percent to 8,772 points with the tech stocks falling most. The market was down close to 1% at lunchtime, but recovered somewhat. Higher oil prices and fears of an increase in interest rates in Australia weighed on the market, as did a 1.2% fall on Wall Street overnight. For the week, the market's off about 0.3%. Today, all the big miners lost, as did the gold diggers, while the energy companies rose. Story number two, the Trump administration has plunked a 12.5% tariff on Australian goods in its latest salvo of trade levies on its partners. A statement from the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Jemison Greer, alleged that Australia had, and I quote, "...inadequately enforced bans on goods produced by forced labour."
End quote.
What prompted the US to impose a 12.5% tariff on Australian goods?
The Australian government has previously lodged its objection to the tariffs, disputing the claim that goods made with forced labour were entering the country. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Miles told ABC Radio National this morning that Australia has some of the strongest laws in the world to combat the entry of goods made with forced labour. He said the new levies make no sense. Story number three, Coles is rolling out fast electric vehicle charging stations at dozens of supermarkets in the hope of attracting shoppers amid a surge in sales of EVs. The partnership with EV Networks offers better convenience for shoppers seeking to charge while picking up groceries. That, of course, is according to Coles.
EV has already built a network of more than 1,000 fast chargers at about 340 locations. Story number four, a self-styled hacker says they will not leak any customer data from Origin Energy, saying they've settled everything privately with Australia's biggest electricity and gas retailer. The alleged hacker, who went by the name of Edison Walther, told The Australian that they would not proceed with their threat to leak the data in 14 days. Origin said its investigations are ongoing.
How will Coles’ rollout of fast EV chargers change shopper convenience?
The alleged hacker had claimed to have accessed the personal information, including names, dates of birth, phone numbers, billing histories and incomplete credit card and bank numbers of 2 million Origin Energy customers. And story number five, Brent Crude traded near 100 US dollars a barrel overnight after Houthi attacks on tankers in the Red Sea opened a new front in the Middle East conflict while President Donald Trump threatened to extend US strikes on Iran overnight. While crude dipped today, futures are still up more than 13% this week. Trump threatened major military punishment in the event of further attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and told Axios he was considering a massive attack on Iran.
The market is already contending with Ukrainian attacks on the Caspian Pipeline consortium terminal on Russia's Black Sea coast, which exports most of Kazakhstan's oil. That's it for the afternoon report for Friday, the 24th of July, 2026.
What happened with the alleged Origin Energy hacker and customer data?
Make sure you're following the podcast and head along to fearandgreed.com.au to sign up for our free daily newsletter. I'm Sean Aylmer. Enjoy your evening.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:03–0:13
2
Why did the ASX 200 close lower today and which sectors were hit?
0:13–1:06
3
What prompted the US to impose a 12.5% tariff on Australian goods?
1:06–2:19
4
How will Coles’ rollout of fast EV chargers change shopper convenience?
2:19–3:17
5
What happened with the alleged Origin Energy hacker and customer data?
3:17–3:25
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from FEAR & GREED | Business News
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