Kerbside recycling is set to change

Good Morning,

New Zealanders are being encouraged to brush up on recycling etiquette, the South Island Kōkako - believed to be extinct for decades - may have finally been spotted, PayPal says it will cut another 2,500 jobs, or 9% of its global workforce, Mainland Chinese stocks fell to a five-year low & Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years in jail.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• Annual inflation cooled to a two-year low of 4.1 per cent, raising investor bets for two interest rate cuts by December, pushing the sharemarket to a record and increasing hopes for a soft landing. (AFR)

• The Australian Stock Exchange’s 20 largest companies will not include a major gold producer for the first time in four years, with Newmont expected to slide down the ranks as investors steer clear of secondary listings. (AFR)

• Mainland Chinese stocks fell to a five-year low while Australian stocks smashed all-time records on Wednesday. (CNBC)

• China's manufacturing activity contracted for the fourth straight month in January, an official factory survey showed on Wednesday, suggesting the sprawling sector and the broader economy were struggling to regain momentum at the start of 2024.(RT)

Earnings and Data

• Novartis AG shares slumped after the drugmaker reported earnings that came short of analysts’ estimates on weak revenue from Pluvicto, a prostate cancer treatment that faced supply constraints. (BBG)

News Summary

• New Zealanders are being encouraged to brush up on recycling etiquette as national standardised rules for kerbside recycling will come into force from tomorrow. (Herald)

• Former Blues and Northland rugby player Tom Robinson is mourning the loss of his grandmother, uncle and dog after they died in a car crash south of Whangārei last week. (Herald)

• Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA) has had unintended consequences and needs to change. (Stuff)

• The South Island Kōkako - believed to be extinct for decades - may have finally been spotted in Southland. (RNZ)

• Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years in jail in a corruption case, just a day after he was given a 10-year sentence for leaking state secrets. (Guardian)

• PayPal says it will cut another 2,500 jobs, or 9% of its global workforce, a year after making a similar move. (BBC)

• The U.S. and China had a “productive” first day of talks in Beijing about the fentanyl crisis, Jennifer Daskal, a deputy homeland security advisor, told NBC News’ Janis Mackey Frayer in an exclusive interview Tuesday. (CNBC)

• Taiwan’s economy started 2023 in a technical recession. It ended the year recording the fastest quarterly growth in two years as booming global demand for artificial intelligence-related technology helped fuel a rapid recovery. (BBG)
  

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

• Mike Hill’s Bombora Investment Management froze redemptions from its main fund last year, as funding markets remained shut for pre-IPO companies and its listed bets underperformed, Street Talk can reveal. (AFR)

• Quadrant Private Equity is nearing a sale of Superior Food Group, the food services distribution business that it placed on the market in December. (AFR)

• A Kiwi health and wellness brand is looking to take a bigger bite of the ingestibles beauty market. (AFR)

• China is embarking on its biggest consolidation in the banking industry by merging hundreds of rural lenders into regional behemoths amid growing signs of financial stress. (BBG)

VC & Fundraising

• AirTree Ventures has gained some Silicon Valley cred. Street Talk can reveal the venture capital firm, which counts Canva and Employment Hero among its early investments, has appointed its first new partner since 2021. (AFR)

Equity Raises

• Litchfield Minerals, an explorer sifting for uranium in the Northern Territory’s historically overlooked patches, is wheeling out its well-credentialed team to fund managers ahead of an IPO. (AFR)

Daily Picks

• A Powerball winner was so excited about winning $17,250 - but it turned out to be a whopping $17.25 million. (Herald)

• A marine heatwave is contributing to New Zealand’s unusually hot weather, says NIWA. (Stuff)

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