Waitangi Day Calls Echo

February 07, 2024

Good Morning,

ANZAC-level turnouts occur for Waitangi Day marches in Dunedin, King Charles diagnosed with a type of cancer, the last remaining anti-war candidate running for Russia’s presidential election is likely to be barred from the ballot.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

  • Interest rates - and their rapid rise - have been a source of pressure on many households in recent years. From their Covid floor, home loan rates have risen from lows near 2 percent to more than 7 percent. But now that more commentators are predicting central banks will start cutting interest rates as they get on top of inflation - here and around the world - attention is turning to when those rates will start to drop again. (RNZ)

  • Bond traders pared back their expectations for interest rate cuts after the Reserve Bank of Australia warned that borrowing costs could still go higher, dashing hopes the central bank was on the brink of easing monetary policy. (AFR)

  • Australian shares are poised to fall in line with losses in New York where equities dropped and bond yields surged higher after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell further dashed rate cut expectations. (AFR)

Earnings and Data

  • So far, about 32,000 tech workers have lost their jobs in the United States in 2024, according to Layoffs.fyi, a start-up that has been tracking job cuts in the industry since the pandemic. (AFR)

News Summary

  • Multiple homes remain under threat as emergency services tackle a large scrub fire south of Waipara, with efforts expected to go on into the night. (Stuff)

  • An activist organisation is accusing the police of brutality after arrests were made at a protest in Lyttelton (Stuff)

  • Less than 18 months into his reign, King Charles III has been diagnosed with a form of cancer and has begun treatment, Buckingham Palace said Monday (Tuesday NZT). (Stuff)

  • A whale that died at a Christchurch beach has been buried by a public walkway where locals say they can smell the carcass and see oozing pink liquid. (Stuff)

  • More than 260 ferry trips have been disrupted in Auckland by cruise ships this season, with ferry users feeling like they’re paying the price for the rebound of the industry post-Covid. (Stuff)

  • One person has died following a motorcycle crash in Alfredton on Tuesday morning. (Stuff)

  • The only remaining anti-war candidate seeking to run in Russia’s presidential election, Boris Nadezhdin, will probably be barred from the ballot, after Russian electoral authorities alleged irregularities in his attempt to register as a candidate. (Stuff)

  • Auckland-based plant-based beverage company Plant Projects has launched New Zealand’s first plant milk derived from pea isolate. (NBR)

  • About 1000 people matched onto the Treaty grounds, all echoing a call that has gone out again and again over the past few days - uphold te tiriti - Toitū te Tiriti! (RNZ)

  • Tropical Cyclone Nat is passing through the Cook Islands, with strong winds and heavy swell warnings in place for the southern group of islands. (RNZ)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

  • The billionaire Forrest family has tipped another $31 million into its privately held Australian nickel business amid expectations it will burn cash and face an impairment. (AFR)

  • Spirit Technologies, an ASX-listed provider of workplace tech solutions, has agreed terms to buy Sydney-based cybersecurity specialist InfoTrust. (AFR)

  • Citywide Service Solutions, a government-owned provider of industrial services to public sector clients, has called in advisers to consider options for its waste business. (AFR)

  • Trust Navis Capital to get cracking early in the year. Street Talk can reveal the pan-Asian buyout firm has kicked off a sale process for premium New Zealand egg and animal feed business, Mainland Poultry, which makes $NZ50 million ($46 million) in earnings. (AFR)

  • Wall Street bank Citi has picked a new head of markets for its local business, after Mark Woodruff traded up to the CEO role last year. (AFR)

  • Mondiale VGL ships out IPO plans; auction expected (AFR)

  • UBS head of real estate sales and veteran Tim Leahy has left the investment bank after twenty years, Street Talk understands. (AFR)

  • Incitec Pivot’s painfully protracted talks to divest its fertiliser division to state-owned Indonesian group Pupuk Kaltim have rival suitors starting to mobilise. (AFR)

Daily Picks

  • NZ politics live: Theme of love and aroha shines through at Waitangi. See more here.

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