Crypto News: Rates set to hit 10-year high

Greetings, it's Garfield here in blustery Sydney. But first, here's what's making news today...

Today's must-reads:
• The RBA is set to raise interest rates again
• China-Australia relations may be thawing
• Newcrest set to be snapped up in record gold-mining deal

Regular or Large? The Reserve Bank is all but certain to hike borrowing costs at its first meeting of 2023 after last year ended with a surprising surge in inflation. The main question seems to be whether policymakers go with a standard, quarter-point move to 3.35% or if they go with a jumbo one and get back to traditional levels at 3.5%. Either way that would be the highest since 2012.

Trade Rewind. China and Australia's top trade officials met for the first time since 2019, in a virtual chat. That's the latest sign of warming diplomatic relations between the two countries after the pandemic period saw bickering over Covid and other matters that led to Beijing banning a range of imports. Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Trade Minister Don Farrell agreed to "enhance dialogue," and that Farrell would visit Beijing soon.

Vertigo for Aussie Stocks. Australia's benchmark equities index is within touching distance (1% away) from a record high. That may have investors on edge, given both the potential for a surprise from the RBA and the perils of a potentially mixed earnings season.

Gold Standard. Newcrest Mining has received a takeover bid from Newmont Corp. The $17 billion takeover would be the biggest gold-mining deal ever. The all-stock offer would reunite Denver-based Newmont with the Australian company it spun off in 1990.

Venture Capital Cools: Investments in Australian startups plunged by a third in 2022 to A$7.4 billion, following the lead of listed global technology companies and venture markets.

Pre-Powell. Stocks gave back some of this year's gains before Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak Tuesday in the US. Investors look to be concerned he will dampen the bullish reaction to his recent remarks and push back against recent bets the US central bank will soon pivot toward interest-rate cuts.

Adani Founders Step In. Billionaire Gautam Adani and his family prepaid $1.11 billion worth of borrowings backed by shares as the ports-to-power conglomerate seeks to allay investor fears and stem a stock rout that's in its third week.

Ballooning Tensions. The US started to recover parts from the Chinese balloon shot down by an American F-22 fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina. Biden officials say the US is still trying to figure out how much senior leaders in Beijing knew about the alleged spy mission. Meanwhile, China is referring to the balloon as a weather-monitoring device and calling the decision to shoot it down a "clear overreaction."

• Australia's December trade surplus likely shrank a modest amount to A$12.45 billion; data due at 11:30 a.m. in Sydney
• The RBA announces monetary policy at 2:30 p.m.

Hang in there, baby. Photo: Courtesy Mike Hewson

Melbourne's "risky playgrounds" look alarming to some, but the designer insists they are far, far safer than they look. Kids love them and researchers are saying that the colorful ropes and steel ladders that span the jagged rocks are a lot better for children than more "boring," traditional safe-seeming play spaces.