China's GDP Growth Slows 📉

Good Morning,

China’s GDP grew at a slower-than-expected pace of 6.3% in the second quarter of 2023, Israel Defence Forces have started using artificial intelligence to select targets for air strikes, an Australian man who survived two months in the Pacific Ocean by eating raw fish and drinking rainwater is “stable and very well” and US currency is teetering at the lowest level in more than a year.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• The NZ sharemarket fell after weaker than expected economic data out of China, New Zealand’s largest trading partner, and gains in the local currency (Stuff)

• Economists think New Zealand may be “breaking the back” of high inflation, but it’s still too early to talk about interest rates cuts (NBR)

• Commodity prices declined on Monday after China’s economy grew slower than expected in the second quarter, adding to concern about the lacklustre recovery for Australia’s largest export partner (AFR)

• Shares in ASX-listed defence technology company DroneShield have soared 19 per cent, after it struck a $33 million AUD deal to sell equipment to the United States Department of Defence (AFR)

• The US currency is teetering at the lowest level in more than a year after signs of cooling inflation bolstered bets that the Federal Reserve will soon stop hiking interest rates (BBG)

• Oil dropped more than 1% on Monday after weaker than expected Chinese economic growth fuelled concern over demand in the world’s second-biggest oil consumer (RT)

Earnings and Data

• NZX-listed Rakon warned its FY24 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation guidance of between $26 million and $34 million could take a hit of up to $10m because of the “temporary slowdown” in the global rollout of 5G telecommunication networks around the world (NBR)

• China’s GDP grew at a slower-than-expected pace of 6.3% in the second quarter of 2023 compared with a year earlier, when dozens of Chinese cities were in lockdown (BBG)

• PriceSpy found that the average price of 73% of all consumer goods sold in New Zealand continued to rise, with the most significant price hikes recorded in games and consoles (Stuff)

News Summary

• A cluster of severe thunderstorms pounded the US Northeast including New York City on Sunday, unleashing deadly flooding in Pennsylvania, and halting operations at several airports (BBG)

• The Israel Defence Forces have started using artificial intelligence to select targets for air strikes and organise wartime logistics as tensions escalate in the occupied territories and with arch-rival Iran (BBG)

• NZL20, the vessel used by Team New Zealand when they competed in the 1992 America’s Cup, was found stranded on Monday at Tindalls Bay, in the North Auckland suburb of Whangaparāoa (Stuff)

• Kiwibank will increase the interest rate charged on a range of its fixed home loans from Monday (Stuff)

• National is promising to allow people under 30 to use some of their KiwiSaver savings to pay for rental bonds (Stuff)

• An Australian man who survived two months in the Pacific Ocean by eating raw fish and drinking rainwater is “stable and very well”, a doctor says (BBC)

• Microsoft has signed an agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said in a tweet on Sunday (RT)

• Tesla built it first Cybertruck at the electric-vehicle maker’s plant in Austin, Texas after two years of delays (RT)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

• Ladbrokes-owner Entain on Monday agreed to acquire U.S.-based Angstrom Sports for 122 million pounds as it looks to widen its footprint in the country (RT)

• Searchlight Capital Partners has agreed to a deal to buy British asset manager Gresham House for 469.8 million pounds, the U.S.-based investment firm said on Monday (RT)

Equity Raises

• PT Nusantara Sejahtrea Raya, the largest cinema chain operator in Indonesia, raised about 2.25 trillion rupiah after pricing its IPO at the bottom of a marketed range (BBG)

Debt

• Private equity house Silver Lake is looking to raise about 1 billion euros of debt to fund its takeover of German technology group Software AG, a term sheet seen by Reuters showed on Monday (RT)

Daily Picks

• 2023 is already on track to be the hottest year ever recorded. Read more about it in this article from Bloomberg

Job Board

New Zealand

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