Today’s News

The Big Picture

• All eyes on today’s RBA meeting. After Australia’s latest inflation rate came in a higher-than-expected 3.8%, markets are pricing a 72% likelihood of a rate rise. All of the Big 4 banks forecast a 25 basis point rate rise, which would take the cash rate to 3.85%. (ABC)
  
  

• Home prices flatten in Sydney and Melbourne. Australia’s two largest cities saw home prices increase by only 0.2% and 0.1% respectively in the 3 months to January. Overall, home prices were up 2.4% nationally driven by small capital cities of Adelaide (4.7%), Brisbane (5.1%), Darwin (5.4%) and Perth (7%). (AFR)
  
  

• Median weekly rent in Australia rises to $690. Across the country rents were up 0.6% in January, the fastest monthly increase since April. Nationally, the median rent is up 42.4% over the past 5 years. (Bloomberg)
  
  

• Europe’s gas storage hits 2022 crisis levels. Heavy US demand has reduced gas supply to Europe, raising energy prices and bringing gas inventories to levels not seen since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Storage tanks in Europe are at roughly 43% capacity. (FT)
  
  

• India spends up as tariffs hit. The Indian government will increase capital spending by 9%, bolstering infrastructure and defence to compensate for slowing exports burdened by 50% US tariffs. (BBC)
  
  

• Super Bowl ads hit record prices. Some of the world’s most prominent brands are shelling out over $10 million per 30-second ad slot in next week’s Super Bowl. Last year, the game attracted almost 130 million viewers and the average advertiser paid $8 million for 30 seconds. (FT)
  

Companies in the news

• Corporate Travel CEO out as 5 month trading delay continues. Jamie Pherous has quit the embattled travel service provider, which is in a trading halt as it faces allegations it ripped off customers and may have to repay over $160 million. (AFR)
  
  

• Snapchat blocks 415,000 Australian accounts. The popular platform announced it is continuing to ban accounts to comply with the under-16 social media ban, but said there are significant gaps that undermine the ban. (Guardian)
  
  

• Disney notches $1 billion revenue in Australia. The entertainment giant generated over $1 billion in revenue in Australia in 2025, up over 30% year-on-year. (AFR)
  
  

• SpaceX halts unauthorised Russian use. Ukrainian troops discovered Russian drones were using Starlink to bypass Ukrainian electronic warfare devices. SpaceX immediately responded, with Elon Musk claiming they had successfully thwarted further Russian use of Starlink equipment. (FT)
  
  

• GE Vernova eyes $1 billion Aussie acquisition. The American energy equipment manufacturer has targeted NOJA Power, a Queensland-based electrical system firm, at auction for roughly $1 billion after Blackstone and Goldman Sachs Asset Management pulled out of contention. (AFR)

What the…?

Wall Street’s most caffeinated CEO. New Nestlé CEO Philipp Navratil built up his career in Nestlé’s coffee business. Now tasked with running the world’s largest food company, coffee is still a major part of his job. Eight coffees a day, to be exact.

Navratil is the third CEO in two years for Nestlé, which is down roughly 50% since 2022. He is optimistic about the future of the company, and his coffee-fueled energy may be what Nestlé needs to complete the turnaround. (NYT)

Today’s Insight

Ask an Adviser - Chris Bates (Refinancing)

This is an excerpt from our conversation with Chris Bates, mortgage broker and founder of Alcove. (Apple | Spotify | YouTube).

Question: Is it worth checking in with your mortgage broker or refinancing just a year after purchase, or is that too soon?

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, you can refinance your loan any point even a month after you take a mortgage, right? It's only about $700 to $1,000 to refinance to a new lender. Sometimes you don't want to do it if you pay the lender's mortgage insurance or you haven't got the equity or et cetera. But absolutely, you should always be considering refinancing, right?

I reckon your rate's probably pretty sharp compared to what good rates in the market are and refinancing after a year, there's only a slight benefit with reextending your loan term and reducing your repayments. So I probably wouldn't do it for that reason. The only other reason you might want to do is if you brought a lot of equity in the property and so unlikely in this market.

Want to speak to an adviser about your mortgage or more? Fill out the form on our website and we’ll match you with one of our hand-picked advisers.

A message from Viola Private Wealth

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