Portrait of King Charles Labelled “archdemon of hell”

Good Morning,

Former Spring Hill prison officer Scott Topham didn’t take too much persuading by a Black Power prisoner to smuggle in drugs in exchange for cash, Auckland Transport has pushed back the start of charging for overnight parking in the city centre to October 1 and publicly apologised to Mayor Wayne Brown & The first official portrait of King Charles post-coronation has been unveiled, leading some to agree the UK monarch looks more like the “archdemon of hell”.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• The Australian sharemarket climbed on Wednesday, led by gains in the mining sector after the federal government pledged to bolster funding for the critical minerals industry. (AFR)

• Global equities headed for a fresh record after a tech-led rally on Wall Street, amid optimism that Wednesday’s key US inflation report won’t undermine the case for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts. (BBG)

• Some of the world’s largest investors are debating whether to jump back into Chinese equities and chase the rally that has pushed it into a bull market, defying bearish assumptions about the world’s second-largest economy. (AFR)

Earnings and Data

• Chinese tech company Baidu said Wednesday its Apollo Go robotaxi arm expects to turn profitable next year. (CNBC)

• Sony Group Corp.’s stock surged its most in about 18 months after games like Helldivers 2 helped lift net income past estimates during the March quarter. (BBG)

News Summary

• Former Spring Hill prison officer Scott Topham didn’t take too much persuading by a Black Power prisoner to smuggle in drugs in exchange for cash. (Herald)

• Auckland Transport has pushed back the start of charging for overnight parking in the city centre to October 1 and publicly apologised to Mayor Wayne Brown. (Stuff)

• A new steel-making furnace will reduce emissions so much that environment officials have floated the idea of reducing the whole country's supply of carbon credits to compensate. (RNZ)

• Mental health advocates say pulling police away from 80,000 mental health callouts a year could be disastrous for people in distress - if it is not done right. (RNZ)

• Proteins in the blood could warn people of cancer more than seven years before it is diagnosed, according to research. (Guardian)

• As a controlled explosion rocked the Dali on Monday, nearly two dozen sailors remained on board, safely tucked away below deck in the massive ship's hull. (BBC)

• Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in China this week is the latest sign of deepening strategic ties between both sides. (CNBC)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

• ChrysCapital Management Co. recently used a so-called continuation fund to raise $700 million from investors to maintain its minority stake in National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (BBG)

• Living Gems has struck a deal to sell eight land-lease communities to Avid Property Group, a residential developer owned by US-based Proprium Capital Partners. (AFR)

• Flare HR-controlled fund, which put its exit plans into gear in 2023, has turned the process over to the trustee, which is expected to complete the transfer imminently. (AFR)

Equity Raises

• The recovery in the US initial public offerings market is underway, with deal volumes growing year-on-year and sentiment improving. Yet one key element of an enduring upswing is noticeably absent: mid-sized deals. (BBG)

• Waystar Holding Corp. is seeking to raise as much as $1 billion in its US initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter. (BBG)

Debt

• BlackRock Inc, the world's largest fund manager, is looking to raise its share in India's $500 billion pool of fully investible government bonds via recently launched exchange traded funds (ETFs), a fixed income strategist at the firm said. (RT)

Daily Picks

• The first official portrait of King Charles post-coronation has been unveiled, leading some to agree the UK monarch looks more like the “archdemon of hell”. (Herald)

The Daily Deck is sponsored by Industrial Equity, LLC