Australia's August consumer sentiment boosted by rate cuts
A Westpac-Melbourne Institute survey showed its main index of consumer sentiment climbed 5.7 per cent in July to 98.5, the highest reading since early 2022. The reading under 100 means pessimists still outnumber optimists, though only just.
The pick-up came after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates a quarter point to 3.60 per cent and left the door open to further easing this year. REUTERS
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Straits Times
16 minutes ago
- Straits Times
China serves plan for competitive tennis ecosystem
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 1, 2025 China's Qinwen Zheng in action during her first round match against Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova REUTERS/Isabel Infantes/File Photo HONG KONG - China has unveiled a detailed plan to build and implement a tennis ecosystem, from boosting the number of top professional players and creating Chinese tournament brands to expanding the availability of courts and infrastructure across the country. In a document released on Wednesday night, China's official sporting body said it would encourage cities, businesses, schools and villages to "vigorously develop tennis" and build a new training system to develop top talent. The document said China would strive to "cultivate more than 10 high-level professional players (ranked in the top 100 in the world) and more than 100 professional players and coaches active in international competitions". China has seen growing enthusiasm for tennis since Zheng Qinwen, 22, became the first Chinese player to win an Olympic tennis singles gold medal at the Paris Olympics last year. Chinese tennis players have also become more visible at Grand Slam tournaments and on the ATP tour, including Zhang Shuai, Zhang Zhizhen and Wu Yibing. Chine aims to establish 10 "strong tennis provinces" and "100 strong tennis cities" with youth training centres and tens of thousands of youth tennis clubs, the document said. China will strengthen the "tennis tournament economy" to expand the flow of tennis tournaments and drive the growth of tennis consumption, as well as promoting tennis leisure and tourism routes. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World Israel says it has taken first steps of military operation in Gaza City Singapore 3 Sengkang Green Primary pupils suspended for bullying classmate, with 1 of them caned: MOE Singapore 18 persons nabbed and 82 vapes seized in HSA ops in Raffles Place and Haji Lane Business Chinese brands like Pop Mart, BYD, Joocyee expanding into S'pore as gateway to Asean market Life Why should we bear the burden of budget meals and app discounts, some S'pore hawkers ask Singapore Religion growing in importance for Singaporeans: IPS study Asia 'Disastrous, useless': New Zealand to overhaul high school qualification to lift falling standards World Google unveils latest Pixel 10 phones packed with AI It called for "deepening the integration of tennis tournaments and urban development to drive local economic development", the sale of tennis themed cultural and creative products. REUTERS
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Trump calls on Fed Governor Lisa Cook to resign over mortgage allegations
Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell (left) speaking with Lisa Cook, member of its Board of Governors, on June 25. WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on Aug 20 called on Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to resign on the basis of allegations made by one of his political allies about mortgages she holds in Michigan and Georgia, intensifying his effort to gain influence over the US central bank. Ms Cook said she had 'no intention of being bullied to step down' from her position at the central bank after US Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte raised the allegations in a tweet. 'I do intend to take any questions about my financial history seriously as a member of the Federal Reserve and so I am gathering the accurate information to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts,' she said in a statement. Mr Trump has also told aides he is considering trying to fire Ms Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the Fed board, the Wall Street Journal reported on Aug 20, citing a senior White House official and another person familiar with the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House declined to comment on the WSJ report. Mr Pulte alleged in a post on X earlier in the day that Ms Cook had designated a condominium in Atlanta as her primary residence after taking a loan on her home in Michigan, which she also declared as a primary residence. He told CNBC he is also probing property Ms Cook has in Massachusetts. Loans for a primary residence can carry easier terms than those for second homes or investment properties. Mr Pulte said the loans in question date to mid-2021, before Ms Cook was appointed to the Fed by former President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate the following year. Ms Cook, a native of Georgia, was an economics professor at Michigan State University at the time the mortgages were taken out. Mr Pulte asked US Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Ms Cook, and Mr Trump quickly amplified the allegation. The Justice Department is taking the matter very seriously, a department official told Reuters. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World Israel says it has taken first steps of military operation in Gaza City Singapore 3 Sengkang Green Primary pupils suspended for bullying classmate, with 1 of them caned: MOE Singapore 18 persons nabbed and 82 vapes seized in HSA ops in Raffles Place and Haji Lane Business Chinese brands like Pop Mart, BYD, Joocyee expanding into S'pore as gateway to Asean market Life Why should we bear the burden of budget meals and app discounts, some hawkers ask Singapore Religion growing in importance for Singaporeans: IPS study Asia 'Disastrous, useless': New Zealand to overhaul high school qualification to lift falling standards Opinion Malaysia: The cost of public doubt over high-profile criminal cases Democrats on the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services blasted Mr Trump's attack on Ms Cook and vowed to fight it. 'Donald Trump is making up blatant lies in an effort to oust the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve Board, so he can replace her with another unqualified loyalist who will do his bidding,' they said in a post on X. 'This is another attack on the Fed's independence. We can't let this happen.' Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, echoed those concerns, saying in a statement: 'The president and his administration should not weaponise the federal government to illegally fire independent Fed Board members.' Ms Cook's federally filed financial disclosure documents show three mortgages taken out in 2021, including a 15-year 2.5 per cent loan on an investment property and two loans for personal residences, including a 30-year 3.25 per cent mortgage and a 15-year 2.875 per cent mortgage. The weekly average rate for 30-year loans during 2021 ranged between 2.9 per cent and 3.3 per cent, Mortgage Bankers Association data shows. Ms Cook started at the Fed in 2022 and was reappointed to a 14-year term in 2023. 'Cook must resign, now!!!' Mr Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform, his latest remarks aimed at reshaping the US central bank, a body designed to set benchmark interest rates independent of White House influence. The Trump administration has used mortgage fraud investigations to go after a number of other political enemies, including Democratic New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a civil fraud case against Mr Trump for lying about his net worth to obtain his own favourable bank loans as he built his real estate empire. That case resulted in a US$355 million (S$456.4 million) judgment against Mr Trump last year, which the president is appealing. Earlier this summer, Mr Pulte asked the Justice Department to investigate alleged mortgage fraud by Democratic US Senator Adam Schiff, who ran the House of Representatives' 2019 impeachment trial against Mr Trump. Ms James and Mr Schiff have both denied wrongdoing. Fed board composition While the Justice Department will review the mortgage fraud referrals, proving criminal liability will be a challenge, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. One challenge is that in many instances, even if a person wrongfully claims a home to be a primary residence, the mortgage company is often aware of all the facts and does not believe the home is being used as such. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, compared some of the fraud claims to flaws in the civil fraud case that Ms James brought against Mr Trump, noting that the bank never gave him credit for a condominium which he allegedly overvalued. It also is not clear if a person needs to live in the property for it to be counted as a primary residence, the person added. 'Mortgage fraud is really about deceiving the banks to get a better loan.' Ms Cook is among three Biden Fed appointees whose terms extend beyond Mr Trump's time in office, complicating the president's efforts to gain more control by appointing a majority of its seven-member Board of Governors. Two of the Fed's remaining six board members were appointed by Mr Trump - Governor Christopher Waller and Vice-Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman. Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised Fed Chair Jerome Powell over benchmark interest rates that he wants sharply reduced, calling for his resignation while acknowledging that the Fed's unique status in US governance prevents the president from firing its board members over monetary policy disputes. The president can name a new Fed chief when Mr Powell's term ends in May, but claiming a majority on the board may take more time. Mr Powell could continue serving as a Fed governor until 2028, near the end of Mr Trump's second term.
Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business Times
Oil prices climb 2% on drop in US crude inventories as investors focus on Ukraine peace push
[NEW YORK] Oil prices climbed about 2 per cent on Wednesday on a bigger-than-expected weekly drop in US crude inventories as investors awaited the next steps in talks to end the Ukraine war, with sanctions on Russian crude remaining in place for now. Brent crude futures were up US$1.05, or 1.6 per cent, to settle at US$66.84 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 86 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to settle at US$63.21. The US Energy Information Administration said energy firms pulled 6.0 million barrels of crude from inventories during the week ended Aug 15. That was bigger than the draw of 1.8 million barrels forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll and the decline of 2.4 million barrels that market sources said the American Petroleum Institute trade group cited in its figures on Tuesday. 'We had a decent-sized crude drawdown. We saw a rebound in exports ... That and the strong refinery demand really makes this a bullish report,' said John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital. On Tuesday, crude prices fell more than 1 per cent - with WTI closing at its lowest level since May 30 - on optimism that an agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine war seemed closer. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'Much of the choppy price action has been driven by daily updates to the Ukraine/Russian negotiations that have gone back and forth from bearish to bullish as far as the impact on future oil balances is concerned,' analysts at energy advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note. US President Donald Trump conceded that Russian President Vladimir Putin might not want to make a deal. Russia was the second-biggest producer of crude in 2024 behind the US, so any agreement that could ease sanctions on Moscow should boost the amount of Russian oil available for export to global markets. On Tuesday, Trump said he had ruled out putting US troops on the ground in Ukraine, but said the US might provide air support as part of a deal to end Russia's war in the country. On Wednesday, Russia said attempts to resolve security issues relating to Ukraine without Moscow's participation were a 'road to nowhere', sounding a warning to the West as it scrambles to work out guarantees for Kyiv's future protection. Russia said it expects to continue supplying oil to India despite warnings from the US, Russian embassy officials in New Delhi said on Wednesday, adding that Moscow hopes trilateral talks will soon take place with India and China. Trump has announced an additional tariff of 25 per cent on Indian goods exported to the US from Aug 27, as a punishment for buying Russian oil. India's state-run refiners Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum have bought Russian oil for September and October delivery, resuming purchases after discounts widened, two company officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday. Russian forces have advanced in the east of Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, taking the village of Novoheorhiivka close to the Donetsk region, Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday. 'The likelihood of a quick resolution to the conflict with Russia now seems unlikely,' Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ, said in a note. Other oil suppliers In other supply news, Iran believes the moment has not yet arrived for 'effective' nuclear talks with Washington, Tehran's top diplomat said on Wednesday. Iran was the third-biggest producer of crude in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) in 2024 behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq, so any agreement to ease sanctions on Tehran should boost Iranian oil exports to global markets. In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, crude exports slipped in June to their lowest level in three months, according to data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI). In Norway, the second biggest oil producer in Europe after Russia, combined oil and gas production exceeded an official forecast by 3.9 per cent in July, according to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD). REUTERS
