Monday, May 26, 2025

RBNZ rates, Healthscope, China's warning over port

Good morning everyone, it's Ben here on a brisk Canberra morning, here's what's making news today.Today's must-reads:• RBNZ expected to make
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Good morning everyone, it's Ben here on a brisk Canberra morning, here's what's making news today.

Today's must-reads:
• RBNZ expected to make sixth straight cut
• Major private health care provider enters administration
• China's ambassador warns Albanese over port

What's happening now

New Zealand's central bank is expected to join the Reserve Bank of Australia and cut interest rates for the sixth straight meeting on Wednesday. It comes after the RBNZ said last month it has scope to lower rates further as US tariffs created downside risks for both economic activity and inflation.

Healthscope, one of the Australia's largest private health care providers, has entered administration, according to a statement Monday, with the Commonwealth Bank providing a A$100 million ($65 million) funding package to support the sale process and ensure normal patient care at its 37 medical facilities.

China's ambassador to Australia has warned Canberra to be careful in its handling of the lease of the strategically important Port of Darwin, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged to bring it back into his country's hands during the recent election campaign.

Liquified Natural Gas boat, the 'Pacific Notus' at the Port of Darwin. Photographer: Fairfax Media/Fairfax Media

WiseTech announced its biggest ever acquisition on Monday, agreeing to buy E2open Parent Holdings in a deal that values the US firm at $2.1 billion. It is the shipping software company's first major move since founder Richard White assumed the role of executive chairman in February.

While Australia has banned foreigners from buying some homes for two years, a cottage industry has spun up in Japan in the last few years offering abandoned houses, known as akiya, to foreigners, writes Bloomberg Opinion's Gearoid Reidy.

What happened overnight

European stocks climbed along with US equity futures after President Donald Trump extended a deadline on aggressive euro area trade imposts, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index erasing Friday's losses sparked by the American president's threat of 50% tariffs on the European Union. Trump later said he would delay the date for the levies to July 9 from June 1.

A 53-year-old man has been arrested after a car ploughed into a crowd of people on Monday in the UK during Liverpool's Premier League victory parade. Merseyside Police said the suspect was white, British and from the Liverpool area.

China's President Xi Jinping is considering a new version of its master plan to boost production of high-end technological goods, according to people familiar with the matter, signaling its intention to keep a firm grip on manufacturing.

China's President Xi Jinping. Photographer: Wagner Meier/Getty Images South America

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Ukraine has been given permission to use weapons supplied by its allies to launch strikes deep inside Russia. "There are absolutely no range limits anymore for weapons delivered to Ukraine, not from Britain, the French or from us — also not from the Americans," Merz said at a conference in Berlin on Monday. 

What to watch

All times Sydney:
• 8.30 a.m. — Australia Energy Producers conference begins in Brisbane

One more thing...

Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg had been hinting at a move toward US President Donald Trump even before the election. He'd described the candidate's reaction to an assassination attempt in July as "badass," called him personally on several occasions last summer and bashed the Biden administration in a letter to Congress. Once the election results were in, Zuckerberg sprinted Trumpward.

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms. Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP
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