Mining giant BHP says it is "deeply sorry" for underpaying nearly 30,000 current and former employees more than $430 million since 2010.
In the US, the House of Representatives has passed a bill to suspend the government's $US31.4 trillion debt ceiling, easing the jitters of the global economy and resulting in the Australian share market finishing higher.
Look back on Thursday's financial news and insights as it happened with our blog.
Disclaimer: This blog is not intended as investment advice.
Key events
Live updates
How the market ended after a day of trade
By Kate Ainsworth
Now the (trading day) is done, here's how the markets looked at 4:20pm:
- ASX 200: +0.3% to 7,111 points (final figures below)
- All Ordinaries: +0.2% to 7,290 points
- Australian dollar: +0.1% at 65.09 US cents
- Nikkei: +0.8% to 31,148 points
- Hang Seng: +0.5% to 18,324 points
- Shanghai: +0.3 at 3,212 points
- S&P 500: -0.6% to 4,179 points
- Nasdaq: -0.6% to 12,935 points
- FTSE: -1.0% to 7,446 points
- EuroStoxx: -1.0% to 451 points
- Spot gold: flat at $US1,962/ounce
- Brent crude: +0.5% to $US72.92/barrel
- Iron ore: $US97.50 a tonne
- Bitcoin: -0.9 at $US26,867
ASX finishes higher after US debt deal clears first hurdle
By Kate Ainsworth
The Australian share market has finished higher for the day, up 0.3% to 7,111 points.
The market was initially buoyed by the US House of Representatives voting to suspend the debt ceiling, and remained higher than it did in the morning session.
Looking at the sectors, health and tech stocks kept the ASX higher, while utilities and academic and educational services finished the day in the red (the latter down 6% thanks largely to IDP Education).
Overall, the top five movers for the day were:
- Paladin Energy +11.0%
- De Grey Mining +4.85%
- Perseus Mining +4.7%
- Link Administration Holdings +4.2%
- Gold Road Resources +4.0%
And the five worst performers for Thursday:
- Imugene -9.1%
- IDP Education -6.2%
- Champion Iron -5.3%
- Alumina -4.5%
- Allkem -3.6%
That's it for today's market blog — thanks for your company throughout the day.
We'll be back to do it all again tomorrow (and finish the week off strong!). Tomorrow is also decision day for how much the Fair Work Commission will increase the minimum wage by.
Until then, you can catch up on today's developments below, or download the ABC News app and subscribe to our range of news alerts for the latest news.
Retail spending remained flat in April as cost of living pressures remain
By Kate Ainsworth
Figures also released today by the ABS showed that retail turnover in April remained flat, after a 0.4% rise in March and 0.2% rise in February this year.
Only two retail categories saw an increase in April — clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (+1.9%) and department stores (+1.5%).
Spending on household goods also fell for the third-straight month, down 1%.
Food-related spending has also fallen, with its first fall after 13 straight monthly rises.
The ABS says the fall comes after a growth period driven by high food inflation.
New capital expenditure rises 2.4% in March quarter
By Kate Ainsworth
It's not all share market and BHP updates today — we've also had some new data from the ABS.
Let's start with new capital expenditure figures (or capex figures if you're in the know).
The ABS says that in the March 2023 quarter, private new capital expenditure rose by 2.4% — and was 6.3% higher than it was 12 months ago.
“Today’s new capital expenditure publication covers business investments in new equipment, machinery, buildings and structures, and gives us important insights into Australian business’ future investment plans," said Ben Dorber, head of new capital expenditure statistics at the ABS.
"For example, we saw this quarter that capex rose for mining and non-mining industries, as businesses increased investment in new equipment and machinery by 3.7% and building and structures by 1.3%.
"The 3.7% rise in new equipment and machinery was the largest quarterly rise since the March quarter in 2021."
He said most industries have been a rise in equipment capex spending, while a 23.1% fall in construction was partly offset by strong results elsewhere.
"The fall in construction businesses investing in new equipment and machinery follows a period of high investment in recent years and may demonstrate some of the impact from continued falls in building approvals," Mr Dorber said.
"Construction businesses expectations for future investment, however, remain positive."
Is the rise in Nvidia's share price justified?
By Kate Ainsworth
If you're an avid market watcher, you'll have noticed the Nasdaq has been seeing some solid gains largely thanks to tech firm Nvidia.
The tech company briefly joined the $US1 trillion club yesterday, joining an elite club of Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet (Google's parent company) and Amazon.
Nvidia has been gaining steadily since releasing its bumper earnings report, with the chipmaker surging thanks to the boom in artificial intelligence.
But is the rise in its share price justified? The Business host Kathryn Robinson asked that very question to Chris Tynan from DNR Capital.
He believes what we're seeing with Nvidia is only the beginning of a rise in demand for tech stocks.
You can watch the full chat below:
A quick look at the markets
By Kate Ainsworth
Before the market closes, here's how it's looking as of 2:40pm AEST:
- ASX 200: +0.3% to 7,116 points (live figures below)
- All Ordinaries: +0.3% to 7,118 points
- Australian dollar: +0.3% at 65.15 US cents
- Nikkei: +0.7% to 31,109 points
- Hang Seng: +0.8% to 18,383 points
- Shanghai: +0.4% at 3,218 points
- S&P 500: -0.6% to 4,179 points
- Nasdaq: -0.6% to 12,935 points
- FTSE: -1.0% to 7,446 points
- EuroStoxx: -1.0% to 451 points
- Spot gold: +0.1% to $US1,963/ounce
- Brent crude: +0.6% to $US73.07/barrel
- Iron ore: $US97.50 a tonne
- Bitcoin: -1.2% at $US26,805
Will PwC be investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Commission?
By Kate Ainsworth
The Federal Attorney-General won't speculate on whether consulting firm PwC will fall under the scrutiny of the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Greens Senator Barbara Pocock wants the watchdog to investigate the company, after revelations it used confidential Treasury tax information to benefit its client base.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission will begin operating on July 1.
But Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says the commission is entirely independent, and he won't be directing it to hone in on any individual or company.
"That's been my consistent policy for years, in talking about what the National Anti-Corruption Commission could look like, in passing the legislation through the Parliament," he said.
"And right now, I'm not going to be making a comment or giving a quote on whether or not any particular matter could be referred or should be referred."
BHP 'deeply sorry' about underpayment in video to employees
By Kate Ainsworth
Reporting by Greig Johnston
In a video statement to sent to employees, BHP Australia president Geraldine Slattery said the mining company had "discovered some issues" with the payroll system which affected employees.
"Let me call out a few things, this should not be happening at all," she said.
"I'm deeply sorry that you're being impacted.
"Please know we're committed to understanding and correcting these issues quickly."
BHP's chief people officer Jad Vodopija said a preliminary review showed leave had been incorrectly deducted when some employees had taken time off work on a public holiday.
She said leave hours that had been incorrectly deducted would be re-credited, plus 10 per cent, as a recognition that "this never should've happened".
Mining union says BHP has been 'sprung ripping workers off'
By Kate Ainsworth
The Mining and Energy Union has criticised BHP for underpaying its workers, saying have been "sprung ripping workers off".
The MEU's general secretary Grahame Kelly says the union will ensure all affected members receive their full entitlements.
"Today's revelation goes to show that we need to keep up the pressure on big companies like BHP to do the right thing," Mr Kelly said.
"BHP has assumed that because they want round-the-clock profits from their mining operations, their workers aren't entitled to their public holiday rights.
"We will make sure all our affected members receive every cent they are owed due to this stuff-up."
After starting flat, the ASX has picked up thanks to the US debt ceiling suspension
By Kate Ainsworth
Checking in on the Australian share market and the ASX200 is trending up at lunchtime after remaining flat for most of the morning.
That boost can be largely attributed to the news out of the US that the debt ceiling has been suspended, meaning the US is one step closer to not defaulting next week.
The bump has flowed through to most sectors, with consumer cyclicals and financials down -0.1% each, while the academic and educational services sector has taken a big hit, down -4.8%.
The top five best performances as we approach 1pm include:
- Paladin Energy +11.0%
- Perseus Mining +4.7%
- De Grey Mining +4.5%
- Link Administration +3.9%
- Bellevue Gold +3.7%
As for the worst five performers:
- Champion Iron -4.8%
- IDP Education -4.8%
- Alumina -4.1%
- Mineral Resources -3.5%
- Nickel Industries -2.8%
The latest check of the markets
By Kate Ainsworth
Here's how things are faring as of 12:30pm AEST:
- ASX 200: +0.3% to 7,113 points (live figures below)
- All Ordinaries: +0.2% to 7,286 points
- Australian dollar: flat at 65.00 US cents
- Nikkei: +0.4% to 31,018 points
- Hang Seng: -1.9% to 18,474 points
- Shanghai: flat at 3,203 points
- S&P 500: -0.6% to 4,179 points
- Nasdaq: -0.6% to 12,935 points
- FTSE: -1.0% to 7,446 points
- EuroStoxx: -1.0% to 451 points
- Spot gold: +0.1% to $US1,964/ounce
- Brent crude: +0.3% to $US72.83/barrel
- Iron ore: $US97.50 a tonne
- Bitcoin: flat at $US27,116
What does suspending the US debt ceiling mean?
By Kate Ainsworth
It's a fair question. In essence, the legislation temporarily removes the US government's borrowing limit until January 1, 2025.
But the suspension of the debt ceiling came with a cap on some government spending over the next two years, speed up the permitting process for some energy projects, and claw back its unused COVID-19 funds.
Despite the bipartisan support in the House, some Republicans wanted the spending cuts to go deeper.
One thing to note with the suspension's end date — it means Biden and Congress can set aside the potentially risky issue of the debt ceiling until after the next presidential election in November 2024.
BREAKING: US debt ceiling bill passes House of Representatives
By Kate Ainsworth
The bill to suspend the $US31.4 trillion ($48.4 trillion) US debt ceiling until 2025 has passed the US House of Representatives.
It will now go before the Senate for approval, before President Joe Biden can sign the measure into law.
President Biden has urged the Senate, which has a Democratic majority, to pass the debt bill as soon as possible.
Once law, it will mean the debt limit will be suspended until January 1, 2025, which will help the US avoid defaulting on its debt repayments, which would have major implications for the US and global economy and financial markets.
The bill passed the Republican-controlled House 314-117.
BHP assured government their employment practices were 'impeccable'
By Kate Ainsworth
That's according to workplace relations minister Tony Burke, who has weighed in on the news of BHP underpaying thousands of workers.
“Just last week BHP were trying to assure us that their employment practices were impeccable and the government didn’t need to close any loopholes to protect wages," he said.
"That’s clearly not true. Australia can do better to make sure workers are properly paid.
"That’ll be the focus of our legislation in the coming months.”
Last week the mining giant was critical of the federal government over its "same job, same pay" legislation, which would require labour-hire workers to be paid at least as much as company employees doing the same job.
BHP estimated the policy, which the government plans to introduce this year, could cost it $1.3 billion per year.
"This cost is equivalent to the labour cost of approximately 5,000 full-time employees across our operational workforce," the company said at the time.
How the market is looking now trading has begun
By Kate Ainsworth
Here's how things are looking as of 10:30am AEST:
- ASX 200 : flat at 7,096 points (live figures below)
- All Ords: flat at 7,275 points
- Australian dollar: flat at 65.00 US cents
- Dow Jones: -0.4% to 32,908 points
- S&P 500: -0.6% to 4,179 points
- Spot gold: +0.2 at $US1,965.09/ounce
- Brent crude: -0.6% at $US72.20/barrel
- Iron ore: $US97.50 a tonne
- Bitcoin: +0.4% at $US27,215
ASX opens lower as BHP shares gain ground
By Kate Ainsworth
As expected, the Australian share market has opened its trading day with a fall of 0.1%, down to 7,807 points as of 10:15am AEST.
BHP shares have picked up some pace in the early minutes of trade in the wake of their underpayment disclosure, with the share price up 0.2% to $42.12 as of 10:25am.
The day has started in the red for most sectors, with only utilities and real estate seeing some marginal growth, up 0.1% each — the latter thanks to gains in house prices.
The top five stocks so far:
- Bellevue Gold +2.7%
- Capricorn Metals +2.3%
- Gold Road Resourcse +2%
- De Grey Mining +1.9%
- Cromwell Property Group +1.4%
The bottom five performers currently:
- Champion Iron -3.7%
- Lovisa Holdings -2.6%
- Allkem -2.4%
- Core Lithium -2.4%
- BrainChip Holdings -2.2%
House prices are on the up, despite rising interest rates
By Kate Ainsworth
The house price recovery continued to gather pace in May, with CoreLogic's national Home Value Index rising by 1.2 per cent last month.
The rise was led by Sydney, with prices jumping by 1.8% — making it the biggest jump since September 2021, and an increase of 4.8% from its slump in January.
The median national house price is now $715,092, with the median value in Sydney remaining well over $1 million.
If you want to read more about house prices rebounding, my colleague Stephanie Chalmers has you covered:
BHP says nearly 30,000 workers have been underpaid over 13 years
By Kate Ainsworth
Mining giant BHP says it's identified issues with certain allowances and entitlement that affect nearly 30,000 current and former employees that's estimated to cost the company more than $400 million to correct.
In a statement to the ASX, BHP says a review suggests rostered employees in Australia had their leave incorrectly deducted on public holidays since 2010.
"There are approximately 28,500 affected current and former employees with an average of six leave days in total that have been incorrectly deducted from affected employees," they told the ASX.
BHP also said it's found around 400 current and former employees in Port Hedland are entitled to additional allowances "due to an error with the employment entity in their contract".
BHP estimates the cost of fixing the issue will be around $US280 million pre-tax — which works out to be roughly $430 million.
Geraldine Slattery, BHP's Australian President has apologised to the employees affected by the errors.
"This is not good enough and falls short of the standards we expect at BHP," she said.
"We are working to rectify and remediate these issues, with interest, as quickly as possible."
BHP says it has self-reported to the Fair Work Ombudsman, and will contact current and former employees who have been affected.
Amazon to pay more than $38m over privacy violations with Alexa and Ring products
By Kate Ainsworth
Online retail giant Amazon has been ordered to pay more than $US25 million ($38 million) to settle allegations it violated children's privacy rights with its Alexa voice assistant.
The company has agreed to pay the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after it was accused of failing to delete Alexa recordings at the request of parents.
It was found to have kept hold of sensitive data for years.
Amazon's doorbell camera unit Ring will also pay almost $9 million to authorities, after giving employees unrestricted access to customers' data.
"As a result of this dangerously overbroad access and lax attitude toward privacy and security, employees and third-party contractors were able to view, download, and transfer customers' sensitive video data," the FTC said.
Did PwC partner Peter Collins get off lightly with a two year ban?
By Kate Ainsworth
That's just one of the many questions being asked in the wake of the tax scandal that's engulfed the professional services company.
Yesterday Greens Senator Barbara Pocock grilled the newly-installed Tax Practitioners Board chairman Peter de Cure on why Mr Collins didn't cop the maximum five year ban.
Mr de Cure confirmed there are two former PwC partners on the Board — but maintains they were excluded from deliberations on the behaviour of Mr Collins.
You can hear the full report on yesterday's Senate Estimates hearing from senior business correspondent Peter Ryan below:
