Afternoon Report | ASX lower
episodePreviously titled “Afternoon Report | RBA hikes rates” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 2, 2026
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Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report for Tuesday, the 5th of May, 2026. I'm Sean Aylmer. Every afternoon, we've got the five stories that happened today that you need to know about. Story number one, the Reserve Bank lifted the official cash rate by 25 basis points today. to 4.35%, pushing it back to its level of late 2024. Eight of the nine Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Board members voted for the increase, and the central bank was clear that it has a tightening bias. Markets have priced in a 35% chance of another rate hike.
Now, Governor Michelle Bullock said not only was the Middle East conflict adding pressure to prices, but even before that, consumer spending was buoyant. That was evident in the closely watched ABS household spending indicator for March, which came out yesterday, shows a big jump in spending during the month, not surprisingly, driven by transport spending, i.e. fuel. Story number two, the local share market closed the day down just a touch, 0.2% to 8,681 points. Broadly, the energy sector did best and consumer discretionary did worst.
What are the implications of the RBA's recent rate hike?
In terms of stocks, it was not a good day for the tech group Kodan. It fell 9.3% after one of its biggest shareholders, the Wall family. moved to sell down. Magellan was among the worst performers, down 6.9% after it announced it would cut fees and scrap performance charges. The fund manager, which is expected to merge with Baron Joey, also said it would outsource management of its $5.3 billion global equities funds. And Borrell has entered a joint venture with Dexus, Dexus of course is listed on the ASX, to progressively develop its 630 hectare Ravenhall site in Melbourne's west into a major logistics precinct. Story number three, big merger today. Regus Resources and Volt Minerals will merge in a deal that creates a new $10 billion top tier gold producer.
It'll generate more than 700,000 ounces annually. It'll be the third largest ASX listed gold miner. The all script transaction will see Regus acquire Volt via a scheme of arrangement, leaving existing Regus shareholders with about 51% of the company. Volt gets the other 49%. The deal is pitched as a scale play, bundling five operating hubs across Western Australia with a combined 6 million ounces in reserves and about 20.5 million ounces in resources. No debt on the balance sheet, about $1.9 billion in cash and bullion. That's according to the FinReview. Both boards have backed the merger, which still requires Volt shareholder and regulatory approval. Volt Minerals share price jumped 3% on the news.
Regis was off 6%. So you get what investors think of it. Story number four, the Victorian Labor Government today released its annual budget. It's banking on economic growth to tackle debt that is forecast to reach almost $200 billion after $18 billion in election promises in the budget that was released yesterday. That, of course, all comes despite warnings from ratings agencies to rein in expenditure. Treasurer Jacqueline Symes unveiled the first operating surplus in seven years. That was good news. slightly higher than what it forecast back in December, even though the state got a $1.5 billion GST windfall. Labor surpluses over the next three years are also a billion dollars less than previously forecast, according to the budget papers.
The pre-election budget includes $14 billion worth of new spending initiatives, as well as another $4.4 billion for major projects. It also factored in $5 billion for contingencies. Now, some of that, I'm sure, will end up being an election war chest. And finally, story number five, Iran's foreign minister has warned the U.S. not to be dragged back into the quagmire after a day of attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. While Donald Trump's Project Freedom, which began overnight, aims to use the U.S. military to guide stranded cargo ships out of the key waterway, Iran insists that it controls the Strait. Yesterday, it fired missiles and drones at military and commercial ships, according to the U.S. Now, Trump said the U.S.
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Chapters
3 chaptersSpeakers
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