Crypto News: Inside Sydney's A$90m penthouse

Good morning, it's Harry here in Sydney with your Thursday download in which the energy transition from large to small is making news. But first…

Today's must-reads:
• Inside Sydney's A$90 million unsold pad
• Government calls for more gas development
• Hydrogen startup raises $111 million

A six-bedroom luxury apartment in One Barangaroo, the casino and hotel complex that was billionaire James Packer's pet project, is struggling to sell after demand by wealthy Chinese plummeted. My colleague Swati takes us inside the A$90 million penthouse.

On the other side of the housing market, surging rents across many developed economies are proving to be a stubborn hurdle for central banks as they struggle to nail down inflation once and for all.

The Rhodes neighborhood of Sydney, Australia Photographer: Lisa Maree Williams/Bloomberg

Australia is calling for the development of new natural gas resources. The government will release a long-term framework, called the Future Gas Strategy, to establish gas's role in the transition to cleaner energy as it looks to meet a target for net zero by 2050.

Meanwhile, for emissions-free hydrogen to become a widespread climate solution, it has to get much cheaper. A startup that's based south of Sydney claims it has a way to do just that.

Australia's biggest banks plan to return more than A$5 billion to shareholders just as fierce rivalry in the mortgage market shows few signs of easing. Here's our take on the past week's earnings reports.

Wall Street's enthusiasm for stocks faded as many traders were reluctant to keep piling in after the market's best four-day rally this year. Equities fluctuated, with the S&P 500 remaining below the 5,200 mark that it briefly touched this week.

One top analyst is spooked by a new form of "phantom debt" that he can't see. At Wells Fargo & Co., senior economist Tim Quinlan worries that specter lurks behind buzzy "Buy Now, Pay Later" platforms, which allow consumers to split purchases into smaller installments.

A slowdown in demand for electric cars has sparked off such a brutal price war that even Tesla is struggling to cope. But for the newer entrants in the race, it is fast turning out to be a battle for survival.

• Black Diamondz Property Concierge Founder and Director Monika Tu speaks to Bloomberg TV at 9:40am.

Pity the auction house specialists. As they scrambled to assemble work for the all-important spring auctions in New York that run during the week of May 13, an ongoing market slump has kept many potential consignors on the sidelines.