Australian Shares Rise; Telstra Group Fined AU$18 Million for Secretly Cutting Upload Speeds on Belong NBN Plans

Published on 10/03/2025 at 02:53 am EDT
(MT Newswires) -- Australian shares closed higher on Thursday, tracking Wall Street markets, despite Trump's plans to fire thousands of federal workers and a delay to key US jobless claims data.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% or 41.5 points to close at 8,987.4.
Speculation about a possible rate hike has been growing in recent weeks, overshadowing Trump's plans, Bloomberg reported.
"After a weaker start to the session amid uncertainty over the government shutdown, share markets ended up posting modest gains in the US," said Ryan Wells, Economist at Westpac Banking (ASX:WBC, NZE:WBC).
On the domestic front, Australia's trimmed mean inflation is expected to rise 0.9% in the third quarter, and headline inflation is expected to rise 1.2% in the same quarter, said ANZ.
Australia's household spending rose modestly by 0.1% in August, marking the second-softest read of the year, as demand for travel and accommodation offset a decline in goods spending by a whisker, Westpac said.
Australia's service sector continued to expand in September, with solid growth in new business and employment despite easing momentum and a slight dip in business confidence, according to a monthly survey by S&P Global.
In company news, Telstra Group has been ordered by Australia's Federal Court to pay a penalty of AU$18 million for breaching the Australian Consumer Law after it moved almost 9,000 customers from its Belong subscription to a lower speed plan without telling them, according to a statement by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Shares of the company fell nearly 1% at market close.
Eagers Automotive raised around AU$143 million at an offer price of AU$21 per share from the institutional component of its around AU$452 million 1-for-12 accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer. Shares of the company rose past 15% at market close and earlier hit a 52-week high.
Lastly, AGL Energy'sclimate transition action plan was approved by its shareholders at its annual general meeting on Friday, despite its largest shareholder, Grok Ventures, voting against the climate action plan. Shares of the company fell 1% at market close.

Sumber : MT Newswires