The year ahead for rates, inflation and house prices

Good morning, it's Amy in Melbourne with your Friday newsletter. Today, what to expect on rates this year, but first...Today's must-reads:•

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Good morning, it's Amy in Melbourne with your Friday newsletter. Today, what to expect on rates this year, but first... Today's must-reads: • DAZN Group's loan to buy Foxtel Group • ASX says system failure was a one-off • Australia's year ahead in economics

What's happening now

British sports streaming platform DAZN Group has lined up a A$1.8 billion loan to finance its acquisition of pay-television and streaming company Foxtel Group in Australia, people familiar said. The deal to acquire Foxtel from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. values the company at A$3.4 billion.  Australia is injecting A$2 billion into the government-owned Clean Energy Finance Corp. in a bid to boost investment in the nation's energy transition. The government said it expects the money to unlock an additional A$6 billion in private capital from investors for domestic projects.  The ASX says a settlement system failure was a one-off. Chief Executive Officer Helen Lofthouse said steps have been taken to stop it happening again. The ASX has committed a A$1 million credit to clients that were impacted by the disruption of its Clearing House Electronic Subregister System project, known as Chess, last month.   Helen Lofthouse, chief executive officer of ASX.  Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg The takeover tussle for super and wealth manager Insignia Financial continues. Bain Capital sweetened its bid to A$4.60 a share, matching an offer from CC Capital Partners. The mooted deal is entering its sixth week since Bain first made a takeover approach and now gives both overseas firms limited access to information on Insignia. Fortescue's iron ore shipments rose 1% last quarter compared with the year before. The result adds to concerns producers of the steel-making material are fueling a supply glut as Chinese demand loses steam. We have an election due by May, stubbornly high interest rates, and twin cost-of-living and housing affordability crises. In this week's Bloomberg Australia Podcast, Rebecca Jones talks to James McIntyre about what's in store for the Australian economy in the year ahead. Listen and follow The Bloomberg Australia Podcast on Apple, Spotify, on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What happened overnight

Stocks have nudged toward all-time highs as oil fell after US President Donald Trump told world leaders gathered in Davos that OPEC should lower crude prices. Speaking by video, he also demanded an immediate drop in interest rates. Closer to home, local stocks are set to open higher.  Trump also signed executive actions related to cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence. The crypto order creates a working group to advise the White House on digital asset policies and will include the involvement of key federal agencies. For decades, US security in Asia has depended on a network of allies, with Japan and South Korea the two most reliable, writes Karishma Vaswani in Bloomberg Opinion. But with new leaders in all three nations, the strength of these ties is in limbo. Chinese company ByteDance is exploring a deal to keep TikTok running in the US without selling its operations there, according to board member Bill Ford. It's looking at options for the social media app that could involve a change of control locally to ensure it complies with US legislation. Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao is turning Binance Labs, which oversees about $10 billion of crypto-related assets, into a family office called YZi Labs. Zhao is a few months out of prison and worth $70 billion thanks to the relentless crypto rally.  Walt Disney is launching its largest-ever ship later this year, and it's hoping to target a new set of travelers. Like many multinational companies seeking to grow in Asia, Disney is aiming to tap the middle class in India.  A rendering of the Disney Adventure Source: Disney Experiences

What to watch

All times Sydney • 9:00 a.m.: S&P Global Australia PMIs • 11: 30 a.m.: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks at the National Press Club

One more thing...

There's little respite for fire fighters in Southern California, with new blazes forcing evacuations — something we're all too familiar with in Australia. What's becoming clear is that overlapping fire seasons globally are pressuring resources. Then there's the strain on the fire fighters themselves: after our catastrophic 2019-2020 Black Summer, research showed 8% of Australian firefighters who spent two months on the fire lines likely had PTSD. Read our Big Take examining the issue here. Have a great weekend.  A firefighter from Mexico, left, works with an American firefighter to extinguish a hotspot from the Palisades fire in Topanga Canyon outside of Los Angeles. Photographer: MAX WHITTAKER/NYTNS

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