UK Pubs Shut at a Rate of Over One Per Day in 2024

Good Morning,

China's central bank injects cash, Indian shares hit record highs, Phillip Mehrtens, the NZ pilot who survived 594 days in captivity, SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son has been planning his comeback, ASX in the ‘dividend doldrums’ as boards hoard cash, UK petrol and diesel prices falling at fastest rate this year, Australia's REA sweetens takeover offer for Britain's Rightmove to $8.1 bln, Books covered for Fletcher Building’s $NZ700m emergency raise, Oil climbs on Middle East escalation fears

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• ASX falls as BHP and Rio lag, $A nears 2024 peak (AFR)

• Bitcoin jumps to one-month high and yen grinds even lower (RT)

• China's central bank injects cash, lowers 14-day reverse repo rate (RT)

• Oil climbs on Middle East escalation fears (RT)

• Indian shares hit record highs on hopes of higher foreign inflows (RT)

News Summary

• ANZ goes with BlackRock (GR)

• Climate protesters may face $60k reparation bill over train blockade (Stuff)

• Dunedin council launches campaign against hospital project cuts - with a song (Stuff)

• Christchurch care and protection facility ‘chronically under-resourced’ (Stuff)

• ASX in the ‘dividend doldrums’ as boards hoard cash (AFR)

• Boxer's brother sentenced for post-fight punch-up (9 News)

• Surgeries postponed as nurses, midwives prepare to strike in NSW (9 News)

• Australia pledges another $10 million to Gaza, West Bank amid 'catastrophic' humanitarian crisis (9 News)

• Albanese hits out at supermarkets as he introduces multi-million dollar fines for price gouging (9 News)

• Australia’s most powerful deal makers in 2024 (AFR)

• Tasmanians have lost more than $1bn on poker machines since 2018 election (Guardian)

• Fifty pubs a month shut in first half of year in England and Wales (Guardian)

• Met police chief hails race action plan as ‘a step in the right direction’ (Guardian)

• UK petrol and diesel prices falling at fastest rate this year (Guardian)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

• Australia's REA sweetens takeover offer for Britain's Rightmove to $8.1 bln (RT)

• Tanarra Capital says at $835m the price is right for Healius (AFR)

• CVC Emerging Companies ink media deal (AFR)

• Canned fruit giant SPC Global in merger talks to juice up earnings (AFR)

• Commerzbank warns UniCredit merger is threat to German businesses (RT)

Equity Raises

• Books covered for Fletcher Building’s $NZ700m emergency raise (AFR)

Daily Picks

• SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son has been planning his comeback (TC)

• The flight to freedom of Phillip Mehrtens, the NZ pilot who survived 594 days in captivity (Guardian)

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