Crypto News: Sydney's record house prices

Good morning and welcome back, it's Ainsley here with all the news you need to start your working week.

Today's must-reads:
• Sydney home values climb to record
• Albanese calls out social media firms
• Chalmers says inflation following US, Canada

Strong demand and low supply levels sent Sydney home values to a record in June. The bellwether city's dwelling values added 0.5% in the month, taking the median to a fresh high of A$1.17 million, property consultancy CoreLogic said today. Overall, dwelling values rose 0.7% in Australia's major cities. Melbourne fell 0.2% and Perth was the best performing capital with a 2% gain.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called social media companies arrogant and irresponsible, as the government's battle to have Meta continue to pay local media organizations for content escalated. "They have a responsibility to keep news on their platforms," Albanese said at a media conference in Melbourne on Saturday. "The arrogance that's been shown by these international social media companies is not aligned with the social responsibility that they have."

Australian inflation remains too high but its path lower is similar to countries like the US and Canada, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said yesterday. "We're confident about the future trajectory of inflation, but we're not complacent about it," Chalmers said, speaking on the Sunday Agenda television show. "It doesn't always moderate in a straight line, it zigs and zags on the way down."

Anglo American suspended production at its steelmaking coal mine in Queensland because of an underground fire. Emergency protocols were followed at the Grosvenor mine, and all workers were safely evacuated after the "coal gas ignition incident," the company said yesterday. The fire, which ignited on Saturday, was still burning a day later. It's expected to take several months to assess the damage and re-enter the mine.

The Greens party will this week resume its push for a Truth and Justice Commission to examine injustices against Indigenous peoples in Australia, introducing a bill to Federal Parliament to establish the body.

The swarm of visitors to Japan's Himeji Castle near Osaka has prompted one city to suggest higher prices for foreigners — much higher, writes Gearoid Reidy for Bloomberg Opinion. There's a way to charge tourists more, but a municipality-by-municipality scattershot approach isn't it.

Himeji Castle Photographer: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images AsiaPac

The euro rose as traders digested signs Marine Le Pen's far-right party was poised to win the first round of France's legislative election with a smaller margin than some polls had indicated.

Marine Le Pen Photographer: Cyril Marcilhacy/Bloomberg

Key Democrats rallied behind Joe Biden's reelection bid as a poll suggested his stumbling debate performance against Donald Trump last week made more Americans skeptical about the president's ability to lead.

BlackRock is nearing a £2 billion ($2.5 billion) deal to acquire private capital database provider Preqin, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

North Korea shot off a suspected ballistic missile Monday, Yonhap News agency reported, days after firing a rocket to test a new multiple warhead system for delivering a nuclear strike. It's North Korea's second launch in less than a week.

All times Sydney
• 9:00 a.m.: June Judo Bank Australia PMI manufacturing
• 11:30 a.m.: June ANZ-Indeed Job Advertisements

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