Market snapshot
Table of Contents
2h agoTue 23 Sep 2025 at 9:53pm
* ASX futures: -0.3% to 8,854 points
* ASX 200 (Tuesday close): +0.4% to 8,846 points
* Australian dollar: fla
Australian Inflation Data: What Experts Predict for August CPI
The latest ABS inflation data is coming out at 11:30am AEST (in less than two hours).
Here’s what experts from Australia’s largest financial institutions are expecting to see from the August CPI (consumer price index).
basically, they expect annual inflation will be anywhere between 2.7% and 3.1%.
Commonwealth Bank currency strategist Carol Kong:
“Our Australian economic team estimate the monthly CPI indicator will ease to 2.7%/yr in August, below the consensus estimate of 2.9%/yr.
“The trimmed mean CPI is expected to fall to 2.5%/yr.
“AUD/USD can soften slightly if our CPI forecasts prove correct.
“But the upward trend in AUD/USD remains intact as of the improving outlook for the global economy and the positive response of the Australian economy to interest rate cuts.”
westpac senior economist Justin Smirk:
“Westpac estimates that the August Monthly CPI will lift 0.1% with the annual rate expected to lift to 3.1% due to base effects.
“There is a high degree of uncertainty, with the recovery in homebuilders’ margins is a notable upside risk.”
Across everything from the technology sector to education, health care, and professional services, AI promises to reshape commerce and industry.
The investment in artificial intelligence has been so unbelievable and unrelenting that analysts believe there are trillions more dollars globally waiting to play a role in the rollout of AI over the coming decade.Though the Reserve Bank’s chief economist Sarah Hunter says there is no way to quantify, just yet, exactly how much artificial intelligence will add to economic growth in coming years.
Here’s the latest story by my colleague David Taylor:
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Westpac to axe 200 bank teller jobs
By david Chau
Alan Kohler on gold prices, AI and market shocks
In case you need a refresher before the ASX opens today, I can certainly recommend Alan Kohler’s finance report.
Alan talked about Myer’s disastrous financial performance, Nvidia and OpenAI investing $US100 billion in each other (which he described as a “money-go-round”), and the price of gold surging to a new record, above $US3,700 per ounce.
He says gold is being driven higher by “US rate cuts and Donald Trump doing what he said he would do, which is increase tariffs and cut immigration, a demand shock combined with a supply shock”.
“Global investors see it as a bit like the combination of nitro
and glycerine,and they’re getting out of there before it blows.”
Could AI and a worldwide basic income eliminate ‘meaningless jobs’?
Australia essentially did it during COVID. The world’s richest man thinks it’s inevitable. And a growing body of research suggests it might very well be the answer to AI shattering long-held high rates of employment.
A Universal Basic Income, or UBI, is a regular, obligation-free payment to everyone. There are different models, but those key elements endure in research studies and pilot projects around the world.
When the pandemic forced people to stay home, millions of Australians were able to remain in their jobs thanks to JobKeeper payments.
In addition, a further 2.2 million people who received some form or welfare payment (such as JobSeeker, colloquially called ‘the dole’) enjoyed a top-up payment called the coronavirus supplement that massively boosted – in most cases essentially doubled – their income.
US stocks have fallen overnight as investors react to comments from the US Federal Reserve chair jerome Powell.
Technology stocks were hit particularly hard,with Apple (-4%),Microsoft (-1%),Amazon (-3%),Meta (-1.3%), Tesla (-1.9%) and Oracle (-4.4%) all seeing declines.
This led to a meaningful fall on the US tech index, the Nasdaq Composite, which fell 1% to 22,573 points. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2% to 46,298 points, and the S&P 500 dropped 0.6% to 6,657 points.The latest comments from US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell also contributed to the falls.
During a speech on Tuesday (local time),Mr Powell was asked how much emphasis his colleagues placed on market prices during their interest rate deliberations.
The Fed chair responded by saying:
“We do look at overall financial conditions, and we ask ourselves whether our policies are affecting financial conditions in a way that is what we’re trying to achieve,” Powell said. “But you’re right, by many measures, for example, equity prices are fairly highly valued.”
He also offered little hint of when he thinks the central bank might next cut interest rates.Instead, Mr Powell stressed that the Fed needs to balance inflation concerns with a weakening job market.
He also said the decision on whether to cut rates again was a “challenging situation” and unclear.