Crypto News: Is working from home doomed for Australian workers?

Good morning, it's Amy in Melbourne with your Friday newsletter.

Today's must-reads:
• Our podcast on work trends in 2025
• Super funds cautious on US energy investments
• Suprise February jobs data

What's happening now

More than a third of Australians are now regularly working from home. In this week's Bloomberg Australia podcast, Rebecca Jones and Peter Vercoe discuss why bosses and politicians now want more workers to return to the office.

Listen and follow The Bloomberg Australia Podcast on Apple, Spotify, on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Terminal clients: Run {NSUB AUPOD <GO>} on your desktop to subscribe.

The competition regulator's investigation into the supermarket sector found grocery prices have accelerated at more than twice the rate of wages, and the two largest chains have increased their profit margins.

A customer browses a food aisle at a Coles supermarket. Photographer: Sarah Pannell/Bloomberg

Australian employment data posted a surprise fall last month. The news sent the currency and government bond yields lower as traders boosted bets on further interest-rate cuts this year. The jobless rate held at 4.1%.

Two of Australia's biggest superannuation funds are cautious over US energy investments. Cbus Super and Aware Super were both in Washington and New York recently for the Super Summit. Policy uncertainty is making investors wary, Cbus said. Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he will make his first foreign visit to the US to meet with President Donald Trump if he wins the upcoming election.

A subsidiary of Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting Ltd. is among those to be allocated an exploration lease for a mine in Saudi Arabia. Major mining companies including India's Vedanta Ltd. and China's Zijin Mining Group have also been awarded leases.

New Zealand's competition regulator is investigating whether membership of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance breaches domestic anti-cartel laws. Federated Farmers complained in December that net zero strategies adopted by banks were resulting in potential "cartel-like behaviour".

What happened overnight

Here's what my colleague, market strategist Mike "Willo" Wilson says happened while we were sleeping…

Stocks edged lower and the US dollar rose as trade war concerns outweighed the latest housing and jobs data. Oil jumped after Trump tightened the sanction screws on Iranian crude. All this bad sentiment added to the Aussie dollar's jobs driven losses. Even data showing that New Zealand emerged from recession in the fourth quarter
didn't help the kiwi with RBNZ pricing moved little since. There's nothing slated locally or offshore to trigger an outsized move in currencies or rates into the weekend. TGIF!

Elon Musk is suing the Indian government over content regulation and censorship of X (formerly Twitter). Musk accused the government of issuing arbitrary or erratic takedown notices.

There's a shake up in the top ranks of Apple Inc. among key executives. It comes as the company's AI technology severely lags industry rivals, and it has shown little sign of catching up.

The scrutiny the remake of Disney's Snow White is receiving, speaks to the choppy waters ahead for media companies trying to remain politically neutral during Trump's presidency, writes Bloomberg Opinion's Jason Bailey. The seemingly innocuous project, which is poised to be released in theaters, has become a culture war hot potato, Bailey says.

Rachel Zegler at the World Premiere of Disney's Snow White. Photographer: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images North America

What to watch

• 11:00 a.m. — Australia to sell A$700 million 2.75% 2029 bonds

One more thing...

If you're finding it hard to keep up with the latest news on tariffs around the world, spare a thought for the communities — particularly in developing countries — where there are real world impacts. Take our neighbor Indonesia, where the country's struggling manufacturing sector could get an even bigger hit from any escalating trade war.

A batik artisan paints in Laweyan, Solo, Indonesia. Photographer: Muhammad Fadli/Bloomberg

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