Australian Shares Rise; Tabcorp Says Austrac Launches Enforcement Investigation Over Money Laundering Concerns
Australian shares rose on Thursday amid reports that an agreement was close on a one-page memorandum to formally end the conflict in the Middle East.The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.96%, or 84.50 points, to close at 8,878.10.Iran said it was reviewing the peace proposal put forth by the US, Reuters reported.Brent crude oil futures were trading around $102 per barrel. Iron ore futures rose over $111 after several months, while gold traded for about $4,700 per ounce.On the domestic front, Australia's goods balance recorded a seasonally adjusted deficit of AU$1.84 billion in March, down from a surplus of AU$5.03 billion in February, marking the first deficit since December 2017, according to data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.The value of new payment platform transactions in Australia rose nearly 26% to AU$241.2 billion in March, compared with AU$186.6 billion reported in the same period last year, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia.Australian card activity showed an emerging slowdown in discretionary spending, with the Westpac-DataX Card Tracker Index rising 2.1 points over the two weeks to April 25, reversing an earlier decline.In company news, Tabcorp Holdings (ASX:TAH) said Austrac launched an enforcement investigation after raising "serious" concerns about the company's ability to manage its money laundering and terrorism financing risks.The company said the investigation will initially focus on evaluating its compliance with its obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Act. Its shares retreated 22% at market close.Light & Wonder (ASX:LNW) reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.45 per share, up from $1.35 a year earlier. Revenue for the three months ended March 31 was $790 million, compared with $774 million a year earlier. Its shares closed down 8%, earlier reaching a two-year low point.Lastly, Orica (ASX:ORI) reported fiscal first-half adjusted earnings of AU$0.60 per share, compared with AU$0.533 a year earlier. Sales revenue for the six months ended March 31 was AU$3.88 billion, compared with AU$3.94 billion a year earlier. Its shares rose 5% on market close.
