Matt Bell
Fast, intraday coverage of markets across asset classes is Matt Bell’s focus at the Australian Financial Review, where he works as a markets reporter overseeing the Markets Live blog. His remit spans equities, bonds, currencies, commodities, crypto and major macro events, with an emphasis on turning live price moves and data releases into clear, timely updates during the trading day.
Markets Live and real-time market coverage
Bell’s core platform is the Australian Financial Review’s Markets Live blog, a high-profile markets feature that ranks among the masthead’s most-read offerings. He oversees its daily output and steers the real-time commentary, delivering fast, sharp coverage as sessions unfold across his asset-class beat. The format shapes his work: short, successive updates that track moves and news rather than long-form analysis, keeping readers close to the live tape.
Equities and ASX session wraps
In equities, Bell covers the Australian sharemarket with a focus on the S&P/ASX indices and notable individual stocks.
In coverage of a session where the ASX ended higher after a consumer price index release, he highlighted a 14 per cent rebound in WiseTech, using the move to show how sentiment had swung back toward the stock. He anchors these updates in concrete numbers and session context, noting winners and laggards to show which names are driving the broader index.
Currencies and macro-linked market moves
Bell integrates currencies and macro data into his market reports, reflecting a beat that crosses asset classes. On the day the ASX rose after the CPI print, he also drew attention to the Australian dollar trading at an 11-week low, tying the currency’s level to the inflation outcome and its implications for the policy outlook.
This kind of cross-asset framing shows how macro releases filter simultaneously through equities and foreign exchange, and keeps readers focused on the points where data and markets intersect.
Tone, pacing and level of detail
Bell’s writing is tightly paced and factual, driven by the demands of a live blog that follows markets minute by minute. He prioritises direction of travel, key levels and immediate reactions over opinion, allowing prices and data points to carry the story. Across his updates, the consistent thread is disciplined, numbers-led reporting that keeps the focus on what markets are doing in real time rather than on longer-term commentary.
4 more finance journalists.
Aaron Bell
Aaron Bell stands out for turning broker research and complex market commentary into clear stories for everyday investors. He writes about the Australian share market as a journalist for The Motley Fool Australia and also works as a freelance journalist and editor focused on financial topics and the Australian economy. His beat covers ASX-listed companies and exchange-traded funds. He writes on broker recommendations, valuation changes, price targets, upside forecasts, earnings results, guidance, and share price reactions. He also covers thematic and emerging markets ETFs, NASDAQ-focused funds, and sectors such as space-related industries. In his reporting, he uses numbers, rating changes, and target prices to explain risk, reward, and what has changed in the business.
Adam McCleery
Adam McCleery tracks the money and deals shaping advertising and media agencies. He is a journalist at AdNews, covering agency pitches, account moves, media buying decisions, budgets, contracts and settlements. His beat sits between finance, media and marketing, with a focus on advertiser confidence, commercial outcomes and the pressures facing agencies, brands and media owners. He reports on television, streaming, subscription models and platform strategies, as well as artificial intelligence, data, privacy and ad technology. His past work spans print, digital and business-to-business titles. He writes in a straightforward, deal-driven style. He follows how brands review, consolidate or shift agency relationships, and how pricing, measurement, fragmentation, policy and economic conditions affect spending, investment, risk and the value of agency services.
Adelaide Miller
Adelaide Miller is an award-winning national business reporter at the ABC who stands out for linking markets coverage with accountability reporting on how finance, regulation and corporate decisions affect workers, consumers and small businesses. She covers superannuation, small business obligations, the ASX, global indices, inflation, government debt, investor sentiment, cryptocurrency, corporate conduct, mortgage stress, and consumer impact. She reports on the gap between legislative intent and on-the-ground practice, and she often uses data, live markets context, and direct reporting from affected people. Her background includes ABC Investigations, Background Briefing, and Four Corners. She also has reported on AI-driven political campaigning, Telstra’s Senate inquiry scrutiny, family law, and a personal essay on her grandmother’s dementia. She works across TV, radio, online, and podcast formats.
Adeshola Ore
Adeshola Ore reports on finance and public policy through their effects on everyday life. They are a reporter at the Guardian, covering tax debates, public spending, institutional policy and the communities shaped by them. Their beat also includes politics, rights, social equity, climate, migration, Indigenous policy, agriculture, food safety and public health. Notable reporting has covered bird flu and egg supplies, catastrophic floods, death cap mushroom poisonings, refugee communities, university misconduct and place-naming rules in Tasmania. Earlier work included global climate conferences, international affairs and social policy. Ore reports through live political coverage, ground-level interviews, documents and hearings. They write news features and explainers that clarify complex rules, risks and rights. They also contribute to the Guardian’s daily news podcast, bringing field reporting and interviews with affected communities into wider discussions of politics and policy.