Good morning, it’s Angus here in Sydney. Here’s what you need to know as we continue to digest the results of Australia’s election.

Today’s must-reads:
• How Trump’s tariffs loomed over voters
• A$3.7 billion gold bullion takeover
• Rinehart urges embrace of Trump 

What's happening now

How Trump's tariffs loomed over voters in Australia and Singapore. Listen to a recording of our Live Q&A, in which Bloomberg’s Haidi Stroud-Watts, Derek Wallbank, Philip Heijmans and Ben Westcott discuss the US president’s influence on two weekend elections that cemented the incumbents.

Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, urged the country’s conservatives to stare down the weekend’s election wipe-out and lean in to policies like those of US President Donald Trump. In a lengthy statement, the iron-ore billionaire described the election loss as  ``devastating for the Liberals.’’  Rinehart called for people to look more closely at the “common sense and truth” in the US, and accused her compatriots of not “getting it.” 

US President Donald Trump praised his “very good relationship” with Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who defeated an opponent seen by voters as too similar to the American leader. Asked about the result, Trump said he was “very friendly with Albanese,” who’d been “very nice” and “very respectful” to him. Albanese’s center-left government was re-elected by a surprisingly large margin.

Gold Fields is buying  Gold Road Resources in a deal valuing its Australian joint venture partner at A$3.7 billion, a sweetened offer following weeks of negotiations over their key project in Western Australia. The Johannesburg-listed miner will acquire all outstanding shares at A$3.40 each — 12% higher than a previously rejected proposal. Bullion’s record-breaking rally over the past three years has renewed interest in deal-making.

Peabody Energy is considering walking away from a $3.78 billion deal to acquire Anglo American’s steelmaking coal assets after a fire at an Anglo mine in Australia. The issue involves the Moranbah North Mine in Australia, which remains shut following what Anglo described as a gas ignition event on March 31. A trade war between the US and China — the world’s top steel producer — threatens to further curtail demand for the fuel needed to make steel.

There’s a notable dog that didn’t bark in the historic defeat of Australia’s opposition coalition and its leader, Peter Dutton, writes Bloomberg Opinion’s David Fickling. His implausible plan to replace the government’s renewables-focused climate targets with a switch to nuclear energy didn’t prove the liability one might have predicted.

What happened overnight

Here’s what my colleague, market strategist Mike “Willo” Wilson says happened while we were sleeping…

Stocks trimmed losses after US President Trump suggested trade agreements could be reached this week, while WTI crude oil futures pared a 5% drop to less than 2%. A gauge of the dollar ended lower, weighed in part as strong gains in Asia currencies bled into the major currency space. This didn’t affect Aussie and Kiwi dollars though as both posted new month-to-date highs. Today sees Australian housing data and New Zealand commodity prices on the slate. Neither should move the dial much ahead of NZ jobs and the US central bank’s interest rate decision, in that order.

The US dollar got a fresh jolt to start the week as speculation around potential trade deals sparked an extraordinary spike in Taiwan’s currency and reverberated across global foreign exchange markets. Taiwan’s dollar led gains among the 16 major peers tracked by Bloomberg, earlier jumping the most in more than three decades on an intraday basis.

OpenAI is backtracking on plans to become a more conventional for-profit company after facing mounting pressure from former employees, academics and rivals, including billionaire Elon Musk. The startup was founded a decade ago as a nonprofit with a mission to build artificial intelligence that benefits humanity. 

Pakistan alleged that India has almost entirely stopped the flow of water across the border through the Chenab river as fears of a clash between the two neighbors mount following a deadly attack in Kashmir. Since Sunday morning, the water flow has been throttled by almost 90% of the usual volume that passes to Pakistan, according to Pakistan’s Indus River System Authority.

President Donald Trump said he would meet with Hollywood executives after confounding the US film industry over his plan to impose a 100% tariff on movies made overseas. “So we’re going to meet with the industry,” Trump said Monday afternoon. “I want to make sure they’re happy with it, because we’re all about jobs.”

Israel’s security cabinet voted to intensify military operations in Gaza and call up of tens of thousands of extra reservists, while also deciding on a means of distributing aid in the Palestinian territory. Israel’s block on aid will only be lifted after the new military operations begin and more Gazan civilians have been moved to the area of Rafah in the south, according to an Israeli security official. 

What to watch

• 11:30 a.m. March household spending data  
• 8 a.m. Macquarie’s Australian investment conference 

One more thing...

More than one in five people prescribed extended-release painkillers such as OxyContin developed an addiction within a year, according to a newly released study mandated by the US Food and Drug Administration. The study revealed a far higher percentage of pain patients addicted to opioids than drugmakers’ sales reps claimed.