Sydney, Australia's Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) building at night.photographer: Bloomberg/Brent Lewin
Georgie from Sydney here. Good morning. As predicted, the Fed increased interest rates by 25 basis points while you were asleep. But first, let's look at the current headlines.
Must-read articles from today include: "Easing inflation dims prospects for RBA hike," "Leaders eye seamless travel between NZ and Australia," and "Rio Tinto reports a sharp decline in profit and dividends."
What's going on right now
Australia's inflation rate decreased more than anticipated in the three months leading up to June, following global trends and supporting the RBA's decision to pause once more at its meeting on Tuesday. CPI increased 6% from a year earlier in the second quarter, falling short of expectations for a 6.2% increase.
Australia and New Zealand are looking into ways to make it easier to travel between them. The close neighbors intend to expand their shared economic market, enhance trade and inter-personal ties, and cooperate in the fight against climate change.
The world's largest miners will certainly follow Rio Tinto's lead in cutting dividends and profits as China's faltering economy casts a shadow over the entire industry. In trading in London, shares dropped more than 3%. As aspirations for the type of big-bang, infrastructure-heavy stimulus that Beijing used to implement diminish, the recent recovery in iron ore prices is appearing more fragile.
As the lender joins a wave of repayments of traditional bank securities, prices of a bond issued by Westpac nearly 40 years ago soared on Wednesday, increasing gains over the past four months to more than 50%.
Sitiveni Rabuka, the prime minister of Fiji, announced that he would have to postpone a trip to China after slipping and falling while using his phone. He pointed to a small plaster on his head and his blood-spattered shirt as proof.
The national science agency of Australia launched Main Sequence, a venture capital firm, and it raised A$450 million from foreign investors. Along with its current investors Morgan Stanley and Temasek, the tech-focused company also received funding from organizations like Daiwa Securities and LGT Crestone.
the nighttime events
The Fed increased rates by 25 basis points as anticipated and left room for further hikes. According to Jerome Powell, future increases will depend on the data. On Powell's recommendation of a break in September, US bonds increased, and the Dow advanced for the 13th consecutive day, the longest winning streak since 1987. Australian equity futures are unchanged, and stocks have recovered from session lows.
After reporting a sales beat and predicting a return to double-digit revenue growth for the third quarter, Meta increased in aftermarket trade. Up 3% from the same time last year, Facebook now has over 3 billion monthly active users, and the number of apps overall increased by 6% to 3.88 billion. Even though employment was reduced by 14% year over year, expenses are marginally higher this year.
On Wednesday, Samsung unveiled the fifth iteration of its foldable smartphones in an effort to compete with Apple and the slowing device industry.
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