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ASX drops, crypto recovers, tax cuts come into effect

It's the first day of the new financial year. Here's what you'll want to know about this morning. Source: Yahoo Finance/Getty
It's the first day of the new financial year. Here's what you'll want to know about this morning. Source: Yahoo Finance/Getty

Good morning.

Welcome to the first day of the new financial year. Here's everything you need to know about finance markets for today.

ASX: The Australian share market looks set to edge lower on Thursday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 3 points or 0.05 per cent lower this morning.

Wall Street: It's been a mixed night of trade on Wall Street, which saw the Dow Jones rise 0.6 per cent, the S&P 500 climb 0.1 per cent, and the Nasdaq fall 0.2 per cent.

AUD: The Australian dollar is trading at 0.7501 to the US dollar as at 7am this morning.

Oil: Energy producers could be on the rise today after oil prices pushed higher again. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.75 per cent to US$73.53 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has risen 0.5 per cent to US$75.13 a barrel. Lower US stockpiles gave prices a boost.

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Gold: Gold miners could push higher today after the gold price strengthened overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 0.4 per cent to US$1,770.70 an ounce. Despite this gain, the precious metal had its worst month in more than four years due to a hawkish US Federal Reserve.

Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrencies were recovering slowly but steadily from an earlier sell-off but are once again down on Wednesday, with bitcoin’s price quite a distance from its all-time high of $63,000 in April. “If we compare today to the April highs, we can say with absolute certainty that the hype has left the market,” said Mati Greenspan, CEO of Quantum Economics.

Bitcoin bubble: The volatility in the cryptocurrency market is often enough to scare off new investors – but Matt Harry, Fund Manager at DigitalX - which offers investors access to Bitcoin through a traditional fund structure, has not been deterred. According to the fund manager, the volatility is not only expected, but it will happen again – but that shouldn't worry investors.

Tax time: It's the first day of the new financial year today so now is the time to start figuring out your tax bracket, work out if you're going to lodge with an agent or DIY and keep on top of all the dates you need to know to avoid a $1,110 fine. If you get stuck, we're here to help - Yahoo Finance has put together a list of everything you need to know about EOFY 2021 and exactly who and what the ATO is scrutinising this year. It would also be worth keeping an eye on these tax scams to avoid being caught out.

Tax cuts: Low income earners and small business will be the main beneficiaries of tax changes that come into operation from July 1 and the start of the new financial year. The low and middle income tax offset was extended for another year in the May budget that will provide a tax break from up to $1080 when 2021/22 tax returns are lodged next year.

Property prices: House prices are expected to have put on a further two per cent in June, which may leave Australia's financial regulators a little anxious as demand for home loans continue to build. Property data analysts CoreLogic will release its well-regarded home value index for June later today. In May, its index rose by 2.2 per cent nationally, lifting the annual rate to 10.6 per cent.

Banks scrutinised: How small banks have responded to the royal commission and COVID-19 will come under the spotlight at a federal parliamentary committee hearing later today. The economics committee will hear from Bank of Queensland, Beyond Bank, HSBC Australia and ING Australia.

Global sting: An online network that had provided a safe haven for cybercriminals has been smashed, Europol says, highlighting an international sting that involved coordination of law enforcement in nine countries. The sting targeted a network known as DoubleVPN, a service that was advertised in Russian- and English-speaking cybercrime forums for people who wanted to mask the source of ransomware, phishing and other fraud operations.

Annastacia Palaszczuk: Blame between state and federal politicians over Queensland's latest COVID-19 outbreak has reached fever pitch, with the premier calling for overseas arrivals to be slashed by up to 75 per cent. In an interview with ABC's 7.30 on Wednesday night, Annastacia Palaszczuk doubled down on her criticism of the federal government's management of quarantine and the vaccine rollout, saying it had let Australians down.

Have a great day.

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