Live: ASX likely to open higher, AI-buying frenzy drives Dow to record high

The Australian share market is likely to have a cautious start to the new financial year.

US tech stocks with any kind of connection to AI surged overnight, boosting Wall Street's industrial index, the Dow Jones, to a new record high for a second straight day. Follow live.

Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.

Pinned

Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 7:49am

Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 7:49am

Market snapshot

By David Chau

ASX futures: +0.1% to 8,781 points

ASX 200 (Tuesday close): -0.5% to 8,779 points

Australian dollar: +0.5% at 69.2 US cents

Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.3%), S&P 500 (+0.8%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.5%)

Europe: DAX (+1.5%), FTSE (+0.1%), Stoxx 600 (+0.9%)

Spot gold: -0.1% to $US4,011/ounce

Oil: Brent futures (-0.3% at $US72.92/barrel), WTI futures (-1% at $US70.04/barrel)

Iron ore: flat at $US100.20/tonne

Bitcoin: -2.6% at $US58,675

Prices current at around 7:30am AEST

Collapse all posts

Filter Posts

All

7

Key Events

6

Market snapshot

1

Supermarkets

1

Key Event

Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 9:10am

Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 9:10am

ACCC opposes Coles opening new supermarket in Kalgoorlie

By Stephanie Chalmers

In an unprecedented move, Australia's consumer watchdog has exercised new powers to block the opening of a Coles supermarket, on the grounds it could knock out smaller competitors in the surrounding region.

Coles has been wanting to open a second supermarket and a Liquorland in the nation's biggest outback city, Kalgoorlie in WA.

The town already has a Coles, Woolworths, two franchised IGA supermarkets, and two independent grocers.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been assessing Coles' acquisition of a site near Kalgoorlie's airport for the last six months, under new notification and assessment powers it has been given to monitor supermarket competition.

"The ACCC is satisfied that the acquisition, if put into effect, would, in all the circumstances, be likely to have the effect, of substantially lessening competition in a market," the consumer watchdog has announced today.

Key Event

Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 9:00am

Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 9:00am

Happy New Financial Year!

By Stephanie Chalmers

July 1 — how did we get here?

With the new financial year comes a raft of changes to taxes and entitlements, and news rules.

ABC reporter Dannielle Maguire has a round-up of the changes, including:

A minor tax cut

A minimum wage pay rise

Payday super

Parental leave

Fuel excise discount slashed

Centrelink payment thresholds

Benchmark power prices

Sender ID register

Check out the details on what it all means:

Key Event

Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 8:47am

Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 8:47am

Unpaid super bill blows out by $500 million: Super Members Council

By Stephanie Chalmers

Australia's unpaid super bill has blown out by $500 million in the past year, now costing Australians $6.3 billion in lost retirement savings each year, the Super Members Council says.

The council, which includes the big industry funds, undertook analysis of recently released ATO data, as new payday super laws come into effect today.

SMC's analysis showed that more than one in four workers (28%) were underpaid an average of $1,850 in 2023-24 — up from $1,730 the previous year.

"This means around 3.4 million workers aren't being paid some or all of the super what they are owed, potentially leaving some more than $30,000 worse off at retirement due to the loss of compounding investment returns," SMC said.

Legislation coming into effect today means Australian employers will now need to pay workers' superannuation at the same time as their wages, instead of every three months.

Key Event

Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 8:20am

Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 8:20am

In wake of KPMG scandal, government considers splitting accounting firms' audit and consulting arms

By David Chau

Accounting firms could be asked to split their lucrative consulting services from their audit functions and individual firm partners could face far greater scrutiny and penalties for legal breaches, under a shake up of the industry being consulted on by the federal government.

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino has vowed to address gaps in regulation of audit firms in the wake of the recent PwC tax leaks saga, and the more recent scandal at KPMG.

Mr Mulino will today release a Treasury options paper on the regulation of accounting, auditing and consulting firms in Australia.

Under allegations raised in parliament, partners at KPMG leaked client information and mishandled a whistleblower who raised the alarm.

Since then, a host of partners at the firm, including its CEO Andrew Yates and chairman Martin Sheppard have resigned.

And on Tuesday, two men were sacked from Ernst and Young after the prime minister's personal banking information was allegedly breached.

For more, here's the story by Nassim Khadem:

Key Event

Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 8:04am

Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 8:04am

Australian property values post sharpest monthly fall since 2022, new Cotality data reveals

By David Chau

The nation's housing market weakened further in June, with national home values falling 0.4%, the biggest monthly decline since December 2022.

Sydney and Melbourne led the downturn while growth in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide slowed, according to new data from Cotality.

Many economists are expecting housing conditions to remain soft in the months ahead due to interest rates, weak sentiment and tax policy changes.

For more, here's the story by Lin Lin:

Key Event

Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 7:49am

Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 7:49am

ASX headed for slow start, while 'AI boom' drives Dow Jones to highest level ever

By David Chau

Good morning, and welcome to the ABC's finance blog — and the new financial year!

I'll be guiding you through the latest market action for the next few hours.

And it looks like  the local share market will have another quiet start to its day.

ASX futures, which are a rough indicator of how the market may open, have risen by just 0.1%. So it suggests the market will open either flat, or slightly higher.

The Australian dollar has recovered slightly to 69.2 US cents, but is still down 3.4% over the past month.

AI frenzy drives Wall Street higher

The 'AI trade', meanwhile, continued to push Wall Street's industrial stock index to new record highs.

Once again, it seems technology stocks with any kind of connection to artificial intelligence rallied overnight, including Nvidia (2.6%), Apple (+2.7%), SpaceX (+4.1%), AMD (+7.7%), Sandisk (+10.9%) and Intel (+6%).

So today investors were feeling incredibly bullish, and not at all bothered by concerns that many of these companies might be overspending on AI investments — which may take many years before there's a return on investment (if it even happens at all).

Nevertheless, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 53,219 points, its highest-ever closing figure.

The benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite indexes gained 0.8% and 1.5% respectively.

Anyway, please grab a coffee, tea or whatever you normally have in the morning, and I'll have more updates for you shortly!