Albanese urges fuel caution, ASX probe findings

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Good morning, Sharon here in Sydney. As US President Donald Trump contemplates an exit from the Iran war, the five-week conflict continues to unsettle the Australian economy. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last night asked Australians to save fuel, in a rare national address last, and the government has passed a law empowering the country's export credit agency to physically buy, stockpile and sell fuels. Meanwhile, we look at why businesses are opposing Victoria's proposed work-from-home laws and at the rugby legend tasked with turning the fortunes of New Zealand's All Blacks around. - Sharon Klyne, Australia private credit reporter What's happening now Albanese used his national address to call on citizens to save fuel and plans financial support for businesses hit by soaring energy costs in the wake of the Iran war. He will speak further on fuel policy at the National Press Club today. Meanwhile, Parliament passed legislation giving the country's export credit agency the power to physically buy, stockpile and sell fuels alongside critical minerals including rare earths. ASX Ltd.'s risk and compliance failures could potentially have serious consequences that negatively impact Australia's financial markets, a probe into the exchange operator found. Melbourne workers may soon get the legal right to work from home two days a week, a move that the city's commercial landlords, cafes, barbers, dry cleaners and other small businesses fear will reduce foot traffic in the central business district, making it harder to survive.  Pedestrians in the Melbourne CBD. Photographer: Sarah Pannell/Bloomberg The country's manufacturing sector posted its first contraction in five months in March as demand weakened and cost pressures surged amid the escalating war in the Middle East. However consumer spending held up, according to Commonwealth Bank of Australia. And BlackRock has emerged as the biggest winner from the expanding alternatives portfolio of Australia's sovereign wealth fund, with its mandate growing 74% over two years. What happened overnight US stocks rallied for a second day as hopes grew that the war in the Middle East may be nearing a conclusion, while Brent briefly fell below $100 a barrel. Treasuries wavered and the dollar marked a second day of declines. The S&P 500 closed up 0.7%, adding to gains from the previous session as investors assessed comments by President Trump on the war's trajectory. Australian equities are poised to open higher. President Donald Trump is setting the stage to take an off-ramp in the five-week Iran war, dispatching Vice President JD Vance to deliver an ultimatum to Iran to make a deal or face attacks on key infrastructure. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted a letter to Americans on X on Wednesday, saying that portraying Iran as a threat is not consistent with historical reality or present-day observable facts France and Japan agreed on the need for a ceasefire in Iran and safe passage for shipping in the region, President Emmanuel Macron said after talks with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi over a crisis that has sent energy markets reeling and cast a cloud over global alliances and the economic outlook. Sanae Takaichi, left, and Emmanuel Macron in Tokyo on April 1. Photographer: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters/Bloomberg Meanwhile, the energy shock sparked by the Iran war is increasingly coming up in conversations about data center deals for Asian bankers, who have helped finance billions of dollars of AI-infrastructure across the region. NASA astronauts are poised to lift off Wednesday evening Florida time on a 10-day journey that will slingshot them around the moon, marking humanity's return to the lunar vicinity for the first time in more than half a century. And any shift to burn more coal in 2026 in Asia will be short-lived, writes Bloomberg Opinion's David Fickling. Unlike in Europe and North America, where gas is a dominant fuel on the grid, Asia is already far more dependent on coal, so the loss of import LNG won't move the needle much, he writes. What to watch • February trade balance (11:30 a.m., Sydney) • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to address National Press Club (11:30 a.m., Canberra) One more thing... After more than a century of global supremacy, the future of the All Blacks — New Zealand's most recognizable brand — hangs in the balance. For a rugby-mad country, the decay of its national team is almost too awful to contemplate. We spoke to former All Blacks captain David Kirk, who took over last year as chairman of New Zealand Rugby, and has been tasked with turning it around. "The game is so woven into our DNA," Kirk told Bloomberg News. "Failure is not acceptable." The All Blacks perform the Haka ahead of a match between Wales and New Zealand. Photographer: David Rogers/Getty Images Europe NEW: Explore live streaming news and interviews, documentaries, reporter analysis and more, all in one place. Check out Bloomberg.com/videos. Enjoying Australia Briefing? 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