| Here’s what my colleague, market strategist Mike “Willo” Wilson says happened while we were sleeping… US stocks rose to a record as an in-line inflation reading bolstered speculation the Federal Reserve will have room to cut rates in September. Short-end Treasury yields fell as the data show the cost of tariff-exposed goods didn’t rise as much as feared. A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar resumed a decline, while kiwi and Aussie closed higher. The latter shrugged off a dovish RBA cut on Tuesday that also signaled further easing. Australia has some wage and home loan data today, neither of which should erase Aussie dollar’s overnight gain. ASX futures point to a strong opening for local stocks. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that the Federal Reserve ought to be open to a bigger, 50 basis-point cut in the benchmark interest rate next month, after having skipped a move at the last meeting. He was speaking hours after the latest inflation report, which he said showcased that economists had misread the likely effect of tariffs. China Evergrande Group said its Hong Kong stock will be delisted, marking the end of an era for the former high-flying developer whose demise came to symbolize the country’s property bust. With a debt amounting to HK$350 billion (US$45 billion) today, Evergrande’s collapse was by far the biggest in a crisis that dragged down China’s economic growth and created a shadow over demand for Australia’s biggest export — iron ore. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he won’t cede the eastern region of Donbas to Russia and pushed for Kyiv to be included in talks as the US and Russian leaders prepare to meet on Friday. Vladimir Putin is demanding that Ukraine give up the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that together form Donbas as a condition to unlock a ceasefire and enter negotiations over a longer-term peace accord. Beijing has urged local companies to avoid using Nvidia Corp.’s H20 processors, particularly for government-related purposes, complicating the chipmaker’s return to China after the Trump administration reversed an effective US ban on such sales. Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. both recently secured Washington’s approval to resume lower-end AI chip sales to China, on the controversial and legally questionable condition that they give the US government a 15% cut of the related revenue. Indonesia will continue diplomatic talks with Malaysia over oil-rich regions of disputed waters instead of pursuing legal action. The two countries have overlapping claims to the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone off the eastern coast of Borneo — known as Ambalat in Indonesia and the Sulawesi Sea in Malaysia. Hong Kong’s rental housing market is expected to hit a record high by October, fueled by a wave of Chinese mainlanders, largely students and professionals, moving to the city. Back in 2022, Hong Kong was experiencing a mass exodus of expatriates due to the government’s crackdown on civil society and Covid policies. | 
