Crypto News: RBA set to stay on hold

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

Today's must-reads:
• RBA set to hold rates
• Chalmers' inflation progress
• Albanese's US visit

Housing costs, including rents, constitute roughly a fifth of Australia's consumer basket and are the biggest driver of inflation after services. That helps explain Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock's hawkish rhetoric and why economists see it holding the cash rate at a 12-year high of 4.35% tomorrow — and keeping it there until at least February.

Staying with inflation, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he expects upcoming data to show encouraging progress in combating rising prices but acknowledged the central bank may not be ready to cut interest rates this week. Inflation will slow to 2.7% in August from a year earlier, according to the median estimate of economists ahead of the Wednesday data release.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is ending a brief US visit confident that two key regional security alliances will remain in place regardless of who wins the presidential election. He discussed Aukus with President Joe Biden on Friday, and the following day the pair joined India's Narendra Modi and Japan's Fumio Kishida at the annual Quadrilateral Security Dialogue leaders summit.

Anthony Albanese, Narendra Modi, Joe Biden, and Fumio Kishida at the Quad leaders summit in Claymont, Delaware on Sept. 21. Photographer: Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo/AP

After Albanese's meeting with Biden, the prime minister said he expects to conclude an agreement with the US over critical minerals before the end of the year. The two nations began talks about the Australia-US Climate, Critical Minerals and Clean Energy Transformation Compact more than a year ago.

Meanwhile at the Quad meeting, Biden was caught on a hot mic saying China is "testing" the US and its allies in the Indo-Pacific region. "We believe Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges and minimize the turbulence in China," Biden told the leaders in opening remarks Saturday, a portion of which were publicized by the official audio feed in an apparent error.

Rightmove has rejected an improved takeover offer from REA Group, according to people familiar with the matter. The UK firm views the sweetened bid of nearly 750 pence a share, or about £5.9 billion in total, as undervaluing the company, the people said. Rightmove shares have risen more than 20% since REA, part of media mogul Rupert Murdoch's empire, made its first approach this month.

Apollo has offered to make an equity-like investment of as much as $5 billion in Intel, according to people familiar with the matter. The development comes as Qualcomm floats a friendly takeover of Intel, people with knowledge of the matter said on Saturday.

Vice President Kamala Harris is leading Donald Trump in two national polls of registered voters released Sunday. She leads Trump by 49% to 44%, which falls within the margin of error, in an NBC News poll conducted Sept. 13-17. While she is ahead 52% to 48% in a Sept. 18-20 CBS/Ipsos poll, conducted entirely after the apparent assassination attempt on Trump at his Florida golf course on Sept. 15.

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin, US, on Friday. Photographer: Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg

After all the political upheaval of the last three months, America's presidential race remains too close to call, writes Hal Brands in Bloomberg Opinion. Yet whatever happens in November, global affairs won't go easy on the next commander-in-chief. The foreign policies of the last eight years aren't sufficient for dealing with two hot wars and a cold one.

Sri Lanka's leftist candidate won a tightly contested presidential election, with voters sweeping out the incumbent for the economic pain they've endured in the two years since the country was plunged into crisis. Anura Kumara Dissanayake won 5.74 million votes after two rounds of counting in the country's first ever runoff — defeating opposition leader Sajith Premadasa.

All times Sydney
• 8:45 a.m.: NZ Aug. Trade data
• 9:00 a.m.: Australia Sept Judo Bank PMIs

In Mayfair's financial enclave and the sleek offices of advisers to the ultra-rich, the talk is getting louder: everyone knows someone who's thinking about their exit strategy — or already gone. Moves that were once confined to whispers and rumors have burst into the open since the Labour Party came into power with promises to clamp down even further on preferential tax treatment for well-heeled foreign residents, known as non-doms, as well as private equity investments and private school fees. Read more about the exodus in our Big Take.

The Mayfair district of London, UK. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

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