Crypto News: Sabre-Rattling

Good morning, it's Ainsley here with the news you need to get your week rolling.

Today's must-reads:

Australia-US military alliance on display
Aussie dollar rally may trip
Reforms planned to close loopholes stifling wages

Australia's alliance with the US is on full display as high-level talks and military exercises get under way — a demonstration of power that may overshadow Canberra's efforts at a nuanced foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific. Australian and US forces on Saturday began two weeks of drills as part of "Exercise Talisman Sabre," including amphibious landings off Australia's northeast coast.

The Australian dollar has been on an upswing this month as the greenback weakened, but risks are building on the horizon. Sean Callow, senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. said: "There's obviously uncertainty ahead of Australian CPI, but the US dollar is set to emerge from the FOMC meeting in solid shape, slowing the AUD/USD upswing."

The government plans to reform its workplace-relations laws in a bid to remove structural impediments that stymie wage growth. The reforms include closing a loophole that allows companies to use labor hire firms to undercut agreed minimum rates of pay, Tony Burke, Australia's employment minister, said yesterday.

Central banking has a long way to go to reach gender parity, Andreea Papuc writes in Bloomberg Opinion. Before the appointments of Michele Bullock in Australia and Hafize Gaye Erkan in Turkey, only 22 women were leading central banks out of 186, according to the 2023 Gender Balance Index. We need more female central bank governors and must agitate to get them. Only in that way will we reach a place where such appointments barely raise an eyebrow and gender stops being an issue.

New Zealand Justice Minister Kiri Allan has resigned after being charged with reckless driving and resisting arrest. Allan was involved in a car crash in Wellington late yesterday, taken into police custody and released early today, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said. Allan becomes the fourth minister to leave Hipkins' cabinet since March.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez boosted his support during the final days of the election campaign to deny his right-wing opponents a majority in parliament. While the center-right People's Party won the most seats, with 136, the right-wing bloc got only 170 seats in total, with 96% of the ballots counted. Sanchez's Socialists returned 122 deputies and, with a wider range of potential partners, may potentially muster 172 votes.

Chinese regulators met with global investors on Friday, according to people familiar with the matter, stepping up the government's bid to boost market confidence as the country's economic recovery loses steam.

Twitter owner Elon Musk said the social media company will change its logo soon, getting rid of the blue bird that's long been its signature. "If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we'll make go live worldwide tomorrow," Musk tweeted late Saturday.

Emerging-market bond bulls are betting the imminent end of central bank interest-rate hikes will help power up the asset class. El Niño may have something to say about that. The weather pattern typically results in hotter, drier conditions and therefore higher food prices in affected nations, giving policymakers more reason to keep pushing up borrowing costs.

All times Sydney

8:45 a.m.: New Zealand June trade balance
9:00 a.m.: July Judo Bank Australia PMI

Photographer: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Picture

Cinemas finally have something to celebrate. Barbie, a comedy about the famous fashion doll, and Oppenheimer, a biography of the inventor of the atomic bomb, brought out movie fans in droves, helping box office revenues surge over the weekend.