New Zealand can look forward to an economic recovery in 2025 from falling interest rates after a turbulent first year in office for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon featuring a likely recession, widening budget deficits and tensions over race relations. Luxon will outline his expectations at the Bloomberg Address at 12pm our time in Auckland. The prospect of rising demand for copper means the energy-transition metal has prompted hefty takeover bids, including BHP’s tilt for Anglo American — but the hunt for new deposits is still falling short. My colleague Paul-Alain Hunt’s deep dive is well worth a read. Core samples at Oak Dam. Photographer: James Bugg/Bloomberg Macquarie agreed to settle allegations by the US Securities and Exchange Commission that the company inflated the value of some investments and overstated client account performance. Business banking looks set to be the next battleground in Australia after mortgage lending, NAB CFO Nathan Goonan told Bloomberg. Hiring people to support the growth will be a problem, according to the country’s biggest lender in this area. Australia’s strong hiring extended into August and the unemployment rate held steady, underscoring the resilience of the labor market to elevated interest rates. Employment rose 47,500 — driven by part-time jobs — versus a forecast 26,000 gain, government data showed Thursday. |