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ASX to drop as Treasurer waits for 'earthquake' figures

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 26: Treasurer Josh Frydenberg reacts during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House on August 26, 2020 in Canberra, Australia. The federal aged care royal commission has criticised the Morrison government for failing to establish independent monitoring and reporting of aged care quality outcomes during the pandemic. Prime Minister Morrison acknowledged in the House of Representatives what happened in Victoria was “not good enough” insisting the government had a plan to minimise the risk of outbreaks as the performance during the pandemic dominated the first week of federal parliament sitting since June. (Photo by Sam Mooy/Getty Images)
Josh Frydenberg is bracing himself. (Photo by Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

Good morning.

Here’s Yahoo Finance’s Friday morning wrap.

ASX: The ASX is expected to lower, ahead of results from Village Roadshow, Boral and Costa. Futures were down early on Friday morning, after the ASX200 finished 0.16 per cent higher on Thursday.

Wall Street: Wall Street had a mixed day on Thursday local time, with both the S&P500 and the Dow Jones finishing higher but the Nasdaq closing in the red. It came as the US Federal Reserve revealed a new strategy to adopt an average inflation target.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 160.35 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 28,492.27, the S&P 500 gained 5.82 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 3,484.55 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 39.72 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 11,625.34.

Tax tips: Have you done your tax yet? Tax expert Mark Chapman has weighed in on five ways to supersize your tax refund.

Pathway out: Australia is lurching towards a depressing few years, writes independent economist Stephen Koukoulas, but a shift in policy settings could steer us to a better course. Here’s what Koukoulas thinks.

US economy: The American economy sunk an astounding 31.7 per cent in the April-June quarter - its sharpest quarterly decline ever. Millions of workers have lost their jobs as the virus batters the USA, with unemployment at 10.2 per cent.

TikTok: Walmart has joined Microsoft in its bid for TikTok, just hours after TikTok chief CEO Kevin Mayer announced he was stepping down. "We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of US TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of US government regulators," Walmart said in a statement.

Bankrupt: A NSW businessman and racehorse owner has been declared bankrupt, ending a long-running court battle with the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth said the man owed it more than $10 million. Here’s the full story.

Anxious wait: Australia is days away from announcing its largest economic contraction on record, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg describing the coronavirus as an economic “earthquake”. Next Wednesday’s national accounts for the June quarter will weigh up the decline in investment, with economists now forecasting a 6 per cent contraction for the June quarter.

Equal pay day: And today is equal pay day. How does the gender pay gap show up in your state or territory?

Have a great day.

With AAP.

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