Good afternoon,The ASX 200 closed up by 0.6 per cent to 7105.40 points – higher than the 7076.6 close it needed to exit correction territory . On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank board said it “expects” rather than “needs” to keep hiking rates to tame the highest rate of inflation since the 1990s, flagging that the central bank was preparing to slow its breakneck pace of policy tightening. “Given high inflation, the resilient economy and the tight labour market, and taking into account the risks, members agreed it was appropriate to continue the process of normalising monetary conditions,” said minutes from the August 2 meeting, released today. The RBA delivered a third straight half a percentage point increase to its cash rate target at that time. Meanwhile, BHP chief executive Mike Henry has warned that Chinese iron ore demand may have little room for further growth, although the BHP boss says China’s return from Covid-19 lockdowns should boost demand for resources over the next year. Speaking after delivering a massive $US30.9bn ($44bn) annual profit, Mr Henry said the mining giant expected China’s return to economic normality would provide a “tailwind” for the resources sector, against the backdrop of an expected slowdown in other developed economies. Shares in annuities provider Challenger fell more than 10 per cent after the company said it had kicked off a strategic review of its loss-making banking business, telling shareholders it is considering all options for the division it acquired a year ago. Market conditions had changed since it had acquired the MyLifeMyFinance bank from Catholic Super, and it was now apparent “the bank is unlikely to realise the expected benefits in the time frame anticipated”, the company said. And Barrenjoey’s head of equity financing, James Jennings, has left the investment bank ahead of the firm embarking on a bonus payment round that was concentrated within more junior ranks.. |