Latest news with #MSTFinancial
AU Financial Review
a day ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Kennett calls for Vic Libs clear-out, questions Battin's leadership
Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has questioned opposition leader Brad Battin's capacity to lead the moribund state Liberals to government and called for a wipe-out of the parliamentary team, opening a fresh battle within the division already reeling from the fallout between MPs John Pesutto and Moira Deeming. Kennett made the comments at a private event hosted by MinterEllison and MST Financial on Thursday night, just as the Victorian Liberal Party's powerful administrative committee voted to provide Pesutto with a $1.55 million loan to help him repay his legal bills to Deeming.
Sky News AU
5 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Treasurer Jim Chalmers warns Australians of 'perilous' threat to fuel prices over escalating Iran-Israel conflict
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has warned Australians could face a 'perilous' threat to fuel prices as global supply chains are at risk from the heated Iran-Israel conflict. Crude oil is up more than 10 per cent over the past week since Israel attacked oil facilities in Tehran and the South Pars gas field before the Islamic Republic retaliated. Concerns have also grown that Iran will block the Strait of Hormuz - the narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman - which facilitates the transportation of about a fifth of the world's oil. Mr Chalmers stressed the turmoil in the Middle East could add to stringent price pressures Australians already experience when they visit the bowser in the future. 'It's a perilous moment for the Middle East, but also a perilous moment for the global economy,' he told Sky News. 'The starkest way that we see the impacts of what's happening is with the oil price. Last Friday, the oil price jumped almost 11 per cent. 'This has big implications for the global economy. It has implications for inflation but also for global growth at a time when the global environment was already very uncertain.' Pressed on whether Australians would see the ramifications of this at the bowser, Mr Chalmers conceded drivers would see 'volatility' with prices. 'It's hard to imagine that any day-to-day movement in markets will be permanent,' the Treasurer said. 'We're seeing mostly volatility in the oil price. We're seeing the gold price shoot up because that's where people invest when times are uncertain. 'What that means for us is the potential of higher petrol prices usually takes a couple of weeks before the international barrel price reaches the bowser price in the suburbs and towns of Australia.' Mr Chalmers said the government had concerns about the upward pressure on petrol prices if the Israel-Iran conflict were to further deteriorate and impact sea lanes around the Middle East. He also ruled out making any changes to the fuel excise, a major promise that former opposition leader Peter Dutton took to the recent election. "We haven't changed our position on the fuel excise," Mr Chalmers said. "We've already seen a lot of volatility in petrol prices. In some parts of Australia people must have been - 12 months ago, 18 months ago - paying $2.40 at the bowser in lots of places. "That got down to $1.50, $1 60." MST Financial senior energy analyst Saul Kavonic on Monday said there were major concerns about how the conflict would escalate. 'The risk here is twofold: One, could we see Israel directly attack Iranian exports, for example, on Kharg Island, which could take one and a half million barrels a day off the market,' Mr Kavonic told Sky News' Business Now. 'But also, could we see Iran target Western oil interests in Gulf States such as Iraq, which could also knock a few million barrels a day off the market. 'Just in that kind of scenario, you could see oil approach $100 a barrel.' Israel launched Operation Rising Lion early on Friday, targeting key Iranian nuclear and military sites and reportedly killing dozens of people, including top army commanders and atomic scientists. In the days since, Iran has hit back by launching dozens of rockets and drones at Israel.
Sky News AU
5 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Iran-Israel conflict could create 'energy crisis we've not actually seen before', MST Financial's Saul Kavonic warns
Aussie drivers could face soaring petrol prices, adding to intense cost of living pressures, as the heated conflict between Iran and Israel may threaten global supply chains. Concerns have mounted Iran will block the Strait of Hormuz - the narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman which facilitates the transportation of about a fifth of the world's oil. Alongside this, Israeli attacks on oil facilities in Tehran and the South Pars gas field has sparked further concerns over prices. Oil jumped about US$7 per barrel on Thursday evening (US time) after the conflict began. MST Financial senior energy analyst Saul Kavonic said the recent jump was a 'risk premium' as the initial strikes had only targeted each nations' domestic energy infrastructure, but stressed there were major concerns about how the conflict would escalate. 'The risk here is twofold: One, could we see Israel directly attack Iranian exports, for example, on Kharg Island, which could take one and a half million barrels a day off the market,' Mr Kavonic told Sky News' Business Now. 'But also, could we see Iran target Western oil interests in Gulf States such as Iraq, which could also knock a few million barrels a day off the market. 'Just in that kind of scenario, you could see oil approach $100 a barrel.' He said the 'most severe scenario' was if Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, as it would create an 'energy crisis such that we've not actually seen before'. 'It would exceed the extremes we saw in the wake of the Ukraine War in 2022 and the reality is our energy markets globally have low resilience,' Mr Kavonic said. 'Strategic stocks, particularly in the US, are at record low levels and we're not well placed to actually deal with a major supply disruption like that, if it was to occur.' AMP's chief economist Shane Oliver issued a note on Friday warning Aussie drivers could soon see price hikes when they fill up their cars. 'Oil prices were already rising this month on signs of increasing risks and spiked another seven per cent after the attacks – with the rise so far this month threatening a flow on of around 12 cents a litre for Australian petrol prices if sustained at these levels,' he said. NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said it was not clear exactly how much more Aussies would be forced to fork out at the bowser as the situation in the Middle East constantly changes. 'It's impossible to forecast what it's going to mean at the bowser,' he said. 'A jump of $7 a barrel, if that was to stay the way it is, that's equivalent to about six or seven cents a litre, but the Aussie dollar has also strengthened, so that negates some of that increase. 'It's really difficult to get a sense of what it is going to means at the bowser.' The price rise will also depend on which city Aussie drivers live in, as the oil price follows its price cycle in each city, Mr Khoury said. 'It depends on where you live, but the trend has been for it to be falling - short of what happened last Friday with the kick-off of hostilities between Israel and Iran,' he said. 'How that plays out over the next few days will ultimately decide what sort of impact it'll have at the bowser.' Israel launched operation "Rising Lion" early on Friday, targeting key Iranian nuclear and military sites and reportedly killing dozens of people, including top army commanders and atomic scientists. In the days since, Iran has hit back by launching dozens of rockets and drones at Israel.
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Oil prices rise as conflict escalates between Iran and Israel
MST Financial Senior Energy Analyst Saul Kavonic discusses the rise in oil prices due to the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel. 'The price rise we've seen since Friday is not based on any actual supply disruption because that hasn't happened at least yet, so this is just a risk premium due to the potential scope of a supply disruption,' Mr Kavonic said. 'The most severe scenario, of course, would be if Iran looked to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, where 20 per cent of the world's oil and 20 per cent of the world's LNG pass through. 'That could cause an energy crisis such that we've not actually seen before.'
The Star
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
Nintendo aims to match Switch success with new console
TOKYO: Nintendo hopes to match the runaway success of the Switch when its levelled-up new console hits shelves on June 5, with strong early sales expected despite the gadget's high price. Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017 – making it the third best-selling video game console of all time. But despite buzz among fans and robust demand for pre-orders, headwinds for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether enough people are willing to shell out. The Switch 2 "is priced relatively high" compared to the original device, company president Shuntaro Furukawa said at a financial results briefing in May. "So even if there is momentum around the launch, we know it will not be easy to keep that momentum going over the long term," he warned. Sales of the Switch, which can connect to a TV or be played on the go, were boosted by the popularity of games like Animal Crossing as a pandemic lockdown pastime. The Japanese company forecasts it will shift 15 million Switch 2 consoles in the current financial year, roughly equal to the original in the same period after its release. The new device costs US$449.99 (RM1,911) in the United States, over a third more than the Switch. A Japan-only version is cheaper, at 49,980 yen (RM 1,485 ). New Switch 2 games such as Donkey Kong Bonanza and Mario Kart World – which allows players to go exploring off-grid – are also more expensive than existing Switch titles. Most original Switch games can be played on the Switch 2, and some Switch blockbusters such as Zelda: Breath Of The Wild will have enhanced editions released for the new incarnation. 'Super excited' "People were a bit shocked by the price of Mario Kart World , the first US$80 (RM 339) game that we've ever seen," said Krysta Yang of the Nintendo-focused Kit & Krysta Podcast. While the company is "going to have to do some work" to convince more casual gamers that it's worth upgrading, Nintendo fans are "super excited", she told AFP. The Switch 2 will have eight times the memory of the first Switch, and its controllers, which attach with magnets, can also be used like a desktop computer mouse. Although the new console is not radically different, "a lot of people (are) saying, 'this is what I wanted, I wanted a more powerful Switch – don't mess with a good thing'," said Yang, a former Nintendo employee. New functions allowing users to chat as they play online and temporarily share games with friends could also be a big draw, said David Gibson of MST Financial. "It's a way to appeal to an audience which has got used much more to the idea of streaming games and watching games, as well as playing games," he told AFP, predicting that the Switch 2 will break records in terms of early sales. And success is crucial for Nintendo. While the Super Mario maker is diversifying into theme parks and hit movies, around 90% of its revenue still comes from the Switch business, analysts say. Tariff trouble? Nintendo delayed pre-orders for the Switch 2 in the United States by two weeks as it assessed the impact from President Donald Trump's global assault on free trade. But its pre-orders have since sold out in the US market and elsewhere, with the company boasting of particularly high demand in Japan. Furukawa said in May that Nintendo's financial projections are based on the assumption of US tariffs of 10 percent on products produced in Japan, Vietnam, and Cambodia, and 145 percent on China. "Hardware for North America is mainly produced in Vietnam," he added. Trump's hefty so-called "reciprocal" tariff of 46% on goods from Vietnam is on pause, while those on China have been slashed. Tariff uncertainty could in fact push consumers to buy a Switch 2 sooner, because they are worried that the price could go up, Yang said. Charlotte Massicault, director of multimedia and gaming at the French retail giant Fnac Darty, told AFP that pre-sale demand has been "well above what we imagined". "For us, this will be a record in terms of first-day sales for a games console," she said. The Switch 2 is "less of a family-focused product, and more of a 'gamer' product" compared to the Switch, she said. "That's what Nintendo wanted, and it works." – AFP
