Yahoo Finance ASX to fall as calls for rent assistance to be expanded
ASX: The local market is expected to open lower this morning after Wall Street extended losses overnight.
This comes after the ASX enjoyed its best gains in three weeks after the Bank of England took emergency measures to calm markets.
Wall Street: US stocks cascaded on Thursday — with Apple leading the way down — as renewed recession jitters permeated Wall Street and wiped gains.
Rate rises: Hopes of a smaller interest rate rise may have been premature with some experts forecasting another 50 basis point hike.
Mortgage holders have endured a cumulative 175 basis points in interest rate hikes since May, causing their monthly repayments to rise by hundreds of dollars.
Rental crisis: Rent assistance payments are falling behind surging rental prices and leaving low-income households exposed, the Productivity Commission said.
The commission wants Commonwealth rent assistance payments revised as a priority and said support payments should be better targeted at low-income Aussies and expanded to cover more people experiencing rental stress.
Optus breach: Australia's privacy commissioner fired a warning shot over the bow of organisations holding personal data, as the federal government warned the fallout from the Optus cyberattack will be felt for a long time.
Green thinking: Australians are more concerned about retailers' sustainability than they were two years ago, despite the rising cost of living, Woolworths said.
Weekly surveys of Woolworths customers on the most decisive factors in where to shop found drops in most areas as inflation sores.
Strike: The private operator of Australia's largest prison is trying to attract workers while its officers take industrial action to protest staffing levels and wages.
Prison officers at the Serco-run Clarence Correctional Centre, in the NSW Northern Rivers region, plan to walk off what they claim is a poorly paid job at an understaffed facility today.
Caddick inquest: As Melissa Caddick's inquest draws to a close her husband is set to return for his fourth and likely final day of evidence after stopping twice due to his “confusion”.
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