US failure shocks markets; Reserve poised to cut rates; Emissions deal 'crucial' to economic future; China could be dragged down; NAB unveils $400m hit as global markets dive
US failure shocks markets
Key US congressional leaders were last night scrambling to revive the $US700 billion ($840 billion) bank rescue plan after a divided Congress rejected the bill, sparking a major sell-off on global financial markets. The Fin Review
Reserve poised to cut rates
The Reserve Bank could slash official interest rates by as much as half a percentage point next week in a bid to shield Australia from the biggest worldwide financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Age
Emissions deal 'crucial' to economic future
Australia's economic future rests on world leaders reaching a climate change agreement because the modest domestic cost of an emissions trading scheme is dwarfed by the costs to Australia of continued global warming. The Australian
China could be dragged down
The chances of China being hit hard by a global recession have increased, economists warned after yesterday's failure of the US Congress to approve the $US700 billion rescue package. The West
NAB unveils $400m hit as global markets dive
National Australia Bank said last night it would take a further $400 million hit to cash profits over the next 10 years, including $100 million this year, as part of efforts to hedge itself against further fallout from the collapse in collateralised debts. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The world was half a step away last night from the worst financial disaster since the Great depression after $55 billion was wiped off Australian share values and analysts warned worse was to come if the US failed to resuscitate a $US700 billion rescue.
Page 4: Climate change expert Ross Garnaut has called on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to hold his nerve in the face of the global financial crisis and stick to his pledge to cut Australian greenhouse gas emissions.
Former premier Alan Carpenter and his energy minister Fran Logan are set to escape scrutiny in a Senate inquiry into their government's response to the gas crisis, which wiped out a third of WA's supply.
Page 7: The chances of China being hit hard by a global recession have increased, economists warned after yesterday's failure of the US Congress to approve the $US700 billion rescue package.
Market turmoil has stripped another $45 billion from the value of already bruised Australian superannuation funds in the past three months to give funds their worst year-on-year returns since the introduction of compulsory superannuation in 1992.
Page 9: WA's major real estate body predicted yesterday that the latest property snapshot will show prices have plummeted 10 per cent this year.
Business: National Australia Bank said last night it would take a further $400 million hit to cash profits over the next 10 years, including $100 million this year, as part of efforts to hedge itself against further fallout from the collapse in collateralised debts.
Interests associated with Perth fund manager Clive Donner were paid up to $10.6 million in management and performance fees last year for running the public listed LinQ Resources Fund.
Fortescue Metals Group operations director Graeme Rowley has warned fellow miners they were likely to struggle to secure project funding unless they could demonstrate a clear link to China's domestic growth.
Investor nerves spread to the precious metals sector yesterday as shares in gold producers, traditionally regarded as havens for investors during times of market volatility, also suffered sharp falls.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Key US congressional leaders were last night scrambling to revive the $US700 billion ($840 billion) bank rescue plan after a divided Congress rejected the bill, sparking a major sell-off on global financial markets.
Chief climate change adviser Ross Garnaut has backed an Australian push for the deep greenhouse gas cuts favoured by environmentalists as he warned there was no reason the financial crisis should derail efforts to tackle global warming.
The board of embattled child care operator ABC Learning Centres has finally bowed to pressure from shareholders, noteholders and bankers by replacing its founder and chief executive Eddy Groves.
Page 3: Treasurer Wayne Swan will next week attend the IMF and World Bank discussions on a co-ordinated global response to the financial crisis.
Page 4: Treasurer Wayne Swan has admitted that home buyers may miss out on the full benefit of any cut in official interest rates as banks grapple with soaring funding costs on global credit markets.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The Reserve Bank is preparing to slash interest rates by half a percentage point next week as central banks worldwide struggle to stop the credit crisis from triggering a global downturn.
Australia's economic future rests on world leaders reaching a climate change agreement because the modest domestic cost of an emissions trading scheme is dwarfed by the costs to Australia of continued global warming.
Page 2: Wall Street bailout package failed because US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson failed and President George Bush failed.
Page 4: The economic impact of climate change cannot be ignored, Kevin Rudd said yesterday, as he dismissed suggestions the global economic crisis could derail efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
Page 5: The cost to Australian households would be almost identical under the ambitious and the less ambitious global emission reduction scenarios investigated by Ross Garnaut, Treasury modelling in the final report reveals.
World: The stunning rejection of the Bush administration's $US700 billion ($A879 billion) Wall Street bail out was the result of a catastrophic miscalculation - as it was thought there were enough votes to see the bill pass.
Business: Global investors fear a fresh Wall Street rescue package will not provide the stimulus needed to revive markets and pull the world economy back from the brink.
Retail investors have reacted stoically to yesterday's market fallout, with few signs of panic selling but also a reticence to pick the bottom of the market and weigh in now.
The corporate regulator will maintain its 30-day ban on all forms of short selling, in the face of claims by the hedge fund industry that it has done little to foster market stability in its first seven days of operation.
The notoriously fragmented American banking system is going through a decade of consolidation in a matter of weeks, with the US Government often acting as matchmaker.
British bank HBOS said last night it was making good progress with planning for its acquisition by Lloyds TSB Group.
The Australian market was pounded yesterday after a horror session on US markets, after the US Congress rejected a $US700 billion ($870 billion) bailout for the troubled US financial sector.
The Australian bond market closed stronger yesterday as the failure of US President George W Bush to get approval for his $US700 billion ($870 billion) Wall Street bailout plan sent share markets into a tumble.