Finance news you need to know today

MELBOURNE has overtaken Sydney as the country’s hottest housing market, with prices rising five per cent over the past month.

THE Australian share market looks set to open flat, taking its lead from Wall Street, where stocks were little changed. At 0700 AEST on Tuesday, the share price futures index was marginally down four points, or 0.07 per cent, to 5,693 points.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar has slid from its two-year high against its US counterpart, falling back below 78 US cents. At 0700 AEST on Monday, the Australian dollar was worth 77.98 US cents, down from 78.10 US cents on Monday.

WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:

WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will “very shortly” make an announcement on Iran’s nuclear agreement with world powers that President Donald Trump has called a “bad deal”, White House spokesman Sean Spicer says.

BRUSSELS — Dozens of British officials and their EU counterparts have got the first full round of Brexit negotiations under way, bringing a quiet buzz to the European Commission’s Brussels headquarters.

JAKARTA — Indonesia’s move to block access to popular messaging service Telegram will do little to curb extremist activity, with hardliners already announcing it has encouraged them to ‘hold a dagger instead of a cellphone’, experts say.

MONDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

DOLLAR — A weak US dollar after a downside surprise in economic data has propelled the Australian dollar to a two-year high, topping 78 US cents for the first time since June 2015.

MELBOURNE — Melbourne has overtaken Sydney as the country’s hottest housing market, with prices rising five per cent over the past month despite increases in interest-only mortgage rates.

BELLAMYS — Infant formula supplier Bellamy’s has offered a refund to investors who took part in its recent capital raising.

HOUSING — Home building will further slow amid signs that “gravity may soon start to catch up with stupidity” in the Australian property market, according to Deloitte.

LINIUS — Village Roadshow and its co-executive chairman have jointly invested $1.5 million in Linius Technologies’ video streaming technology.

FAMILY ZONE — Shares in listed Australian cyber-safety firm, Family Zone, have risen 20 per cent following news it will launch a suite of family-safe online digital products into the Indonesian market.

NEWS CORP — Media giant News Corp has appointed Stacey Brown as its new chief financial officer of the organisation’s Australian arm.