By Lewis Jackson SYDNEY (Reuters) – HESTA, one of Australia’s largest pension funds, on Wednesday froze work with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Australia, the latest fund to blacklist the firm amid a national scandal over its misuse of confidential government tax plans. The A$72 billion ($48 billion) fund is “very concerned” and will “restrict consideration of PwC…
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s economy grew at the weakest pace in 1-1/2 years last quarter as high prices and rising interest rates sapped consumer spending, while emerging signs pointed to further softness ahead amid elevated borrowing costs and a slowdown in global growth. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed real gross…
(Reuters) -Australia’s Estia Health on Wednesday said it intended to back Bain Capital’s sweetened takeover offer that valued the aged-care provider at A$826.8 million ($552.05 million), sending its shares about 19% higher to a near five-year peak. Under the revised proposal, Bain Capital would offer A$3.20 in cash for every Estia share, which represents a…
By Jamie McGeever (Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever. Chinese trade figures for May top the Asia-Pacific economic data and events calendar on Wednesday with investors keen to see whether April’s shock slump in imports is repeated, which will offer clues on the health – or otherwise…
By Karen Brettell NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar gained against the euro and yen on Tuesday as investors focused on the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will continue hiking rates, while the Aussie jumped after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) surprised with a rate increase. Fed officials are in a blackout period…
By Marc Jones and Koh Gui Qing LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – World shares edged higher on Tuesday as investors mulled whether a recent rally in stocks has legs to run further, while Treasury yields drifted higher as traders pared bets that U.S. rate cuts are on the horizon given sticky price pressures. Wall Street, where…
By Stella Qiu SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s central bank on Tuesday raised interest rates by a quarter-point to an 11-year high, and warned that further tightening may be required to ensure that inflation returns to target. The hawkish message sent the local dollar surging and bond yields spiking, as markets quickly moved to price in an…
By Hari Kishan and Sarupya Ganguly BENGALURU (Reuters) – The outlook for most major housing markets has improved slightly from three months ago despite high interest rates, according to Reuters polls of property analysts who were mostly split on whether affordability would worsen or not. House prices rose at a blistering pace across the developed…
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Chevron said on Tuesday it has started producing gas from the Gorgon Stage 2 development project off the coast of Western Australia. The development expands the existing subsea gas gathering network of the Gorgon Project, which exports liquefied natural gas (LNG) to customers across Asia and produces domestic gas for the Western…
(Reuters) – Top Australian lender Westpac Banking Corp said on Tuesday that it will raise its home loan variable interest rates by 25 basis points (bps), in line with the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) rate hike. In a surprise move, the RBA raised interest rates by a quarter-point to an 11-year high, and warned…
