Aussie Dollar to Snap Losing Streak on RBA Stance, China Support
The Australian dollar may be headed for its first annual gain since 2020, as the central bank keeps interest rates high and the economy benefits from expected Chinese stimulus.
The Aussie will climb as high as 68 cents by December, according to Westpac Banking Corp. and Bank of America Corp., which would imply a gain of 8.4% from Friday's close. National Australia Bank Ltd. and Westpac see the currency rising to 65 cents by the end of June, after some initial volatility.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
What happened to Moscow? A dispatch from behind the sanctions.
None of which is to say the Russian capital hasn't changed. It has — in small ways, and some not so small. It still feels unmistakably European. But it's a Europe outside the EU, orbiting on its own track. Advertisement A lot of famous names are gone. No McDonald's, no IKEA, no Zara. In their place, Russian versions, Chinese entrants, and homegrown upstarts that mimic the aesthetic, if not the price point. Yet Burger King still grills away, and KFC has become Rostic's again. Starbucks lives on in everything but name as Stars Coffee. Capitalism didn't leave. It changed its clothes. Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Walking along Maroseyka street on a recent hot day in Moscow. Pavel Bednyakov/Associated Press On the high street, Turkish and Chinese brands have filled the gaps. Many Western luxury names still linger — Lacoste, Armani, Saint Laurent — but these days they share space with labels few outsiders would recognize. Luxury perfumes are easy to find. iPhones too. In fact, they're sometimes cheaper here than in the EU. Nightlife, once among the continent's most electric, has changed. The once visible LGBTQ scene has largely vanished. Even the legendary Propaganda nightclub has shut. But the lights remain on –– Simach still rocks, and rapper Timati's Flava is the place to be seen. With suitably absurd prices to boot. Advertisement The pubs are busy. Guinness is a luxury at 950 rubles ($12), so people drink local stouts like St Petersburg's Black Sheep instead, at less than half the price. Barmen report take-home earnings of around 150,000 rubles a month with tips. That's about $1,800, and in Moscow, it goes surprisingly far. Rent is still modest, and a single metro ticket costs $0.85. Unlimited monthly travel is $40. A third as much as in Berlin. A sunny day in central Moscow earlier this month. ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images Restaurants remain lively. But signs of strain are there. Birds, once a flashy Moscow City skyscraper favorite, has closed. So too has the famed Williams in Patriki. Chefs grumble about inflation, but the kitchen staff still show up, and wages are rising. Unlike in much of Europe, pay here hasn't stood still in recent years. The real shift is human. The migrants and tourists are different. The Americans have gone. So have the Germans. Irish pubs that once echoed with the English language now host mostly Russians. On the streets you hear more Arabic, Persian, and Chinese. Moscow feels more Global South than Global West. Cuisine tells the same story. A decade ago, decent Indian food was a rarity. Now it's everywhere — upmarket on Tverskaya or downmarket in the suburbs. Not just for expats. Russians eat there too, curious and increasingly cosmopolitan in their tastes. Moscow's Cartier boutique closed, a casualty of the West's sanctions. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Associated Press Politics? Hardly a whisper. Summers used to bring protests around Trubnaya. Often attended by more Western journalists than actual Russians. Now, silence. The liberal opposition is muted, abroad, or fearful to show its head. The political void isn't heavy with menace. Politics just feels absent. Moscow keeps moving, with or without the drama. Advertisement Football, once a cultural anchor, has drifted too. This year's Champions League final came and went with barely a murmur. Match TV no longer shows it. You can find a stream online, but it's not an event anymore. Hard to believe the World Cup final was played here just seven years ago. The Ukraine conflict is present but not prominent. You see the uniforms, the occasional recruitment poster. And sometimes, a stranger leans in and asks what you think of the 'special military operation.' But there's no rationing. No gloom. Construction crews keep pouring concrete. Shops stay stocked. Streets stay swept. The cars have changed. The Hyundais and Toyotas are thinning out. Mercedes and BMWs still pass by, though they're harder to come by. Now, it's BYD, Lixiang, Zeekr — badges of status from a different place. The digital world reflects the city's new orientation. While such Western media as CNN and The Guardian are not blocked and can still be accessed directly, others require a VPN. The same applies to Instagram, X, and YouTube. This, however, comes with a shrug from most Muscovites. After all, it was the EU that first blocked Russian media for its own citizens, they remind you. In this new bifurcated world, reciprocal restrictions are just part of the game. The departure of many liberals, both native and foreign — journalists, artists, and tech workers — has also left a cultural mark. Once fixtures of Moscow's cosmopolitan energy, many left for Berlin, Tbilisi, Istanbul, and farther afield. In their absence, the city recalibrated. Few mourn the 'relocants,' as they're derisively known. Among those who stayed, they're seen as quitters — self-important chumps who abandoned ship and now jeer from the shore. Meanwhile, a quiet trickle of returnees — particularly young liberal men — have begun to reappear. A few of the more privileged ones discreetly admit that life in Bali or Koh Samui wasn't quite what they'd hoped. Advertisement Tourism patterns have shifted too. Paris weekends and London shopping sprees are out. Now it's Dubai, Antalya, Bangkok. The destinations may be different, but the appetite for travel remains. Moscow's mood, if it can be captured, is one of motion without anxiety. No triumph. No collapse. Just a city learning to walk a new path. A couple dances to a busker on Arbat. A policeman eats a shawarma near Leningrad Station. A barista at Stars Coffee hands you a cappuccino with the faintest smile. Life ticks on. The sanctions were meant to isolate. Instead, they've underlined a truth: This city, with all its contradictions and churn, is going its own way. No fanfare, no hand-wringing, little introspection. Just work to do, money to make, bills to pay, dreams to chase — and plenty to bury. To walk Moscow today is to encounter a capital that no longer seeks the West's approval — and may not miss its presence, either.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Hunan eyes progress in partnerships with Africa
BEIJING, June 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from Central China's Hunan province aims to boost economic and trade cooperation with Africa by exploring new business models and strengthening institutional innovation and policy coordination, said Shen Xiaoming, Party secretary of Hunan. He made the remarks in an exclusive interview with China Daily ahead of the fourth China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, which will open in Changsha, the provincial capital, on Thursday and run through Sunday. "We will continue to focus on expanding and upgrading new barter trade with Africa, while promoting the integrated development of production, industry and trade," he said, adding that these measures will further elevate Hunan's trade capacity with Africa and contribute more to the building of an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era. Shen noted the province's long history, solid foundation and broad prospects in promoting exchanges and cooperation with the African continent. Hunan's foreign trade volume with Africa has ranked first among provinces in central and western China for five consecutive years. Hunan is well-positioned in equipment manufacturing, energy and power, mining and mineral processing, and comprehensive agricultural development, he said, adding that these advantages align closely with African countries' needs for industrialization and agricultural modernization. The province is actively exploring the implementation of pilot reforms in new types of barter trade with African countries, introducing policies and measures such as moving inspection and testing institutions closer to the entry point. These efforts aim to attract more African and Chinese enterprises engaging in bilateral trade to Hunan. To date, 103 new barter trade transactions have been completed, placing Hunan on top in China in terms of Africa-oriented barter trade volume. According to Shen, Hunan is making vigorous efforts for the construction of "a highland for reform and opening-up in inland China". The focus points include implementing a comprehensive reform for the market-based allocation of production factors in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan metropolitan area, promoting the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, and boosting alignment with and integration into major national initiatives. The initiatives include the rise of Central China strategy, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and Yangtze River Delta integration. "We're steadily advancing institutional opening-up and optimizing the business environment with a focus on reducing the comprehensive operational costs for enterprises," Shen said. Last year, Hunan saw the overall logistics cost decrease by 0.2 percentage point and industrial and commercial electricity prices drop by 6 percentage points. Currently, 212 Fortune Global 500 companies have invested in Hunan, and the province has established economic and trade partnerships with 235 countries and regions. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone. Shen said that since the zone was established, it has made vigorous efforts to advance reform and opening-up through exploration and innovation in institutional reforms. Over the past five years, the free trade zone has achieved 109 institutional innovations, welcomed more than 48,000 enterprises, introduced 542 major projects and attracted investment totaling nearly 740 billion yuan ($103 billion). The zone also recorded an import-export volume exceeding 800 billion yuan, accounting for approximately one-third of the province's total, data from local authorities show. Shen elaborated on the measures taken by Hunan to advance the development of the free trade zone, highlighting several key initiatives. First, Hunan has effectively utilized the experiences gained from other regions and innovated based on their practices. As a result, 349 innovative measures have been implemented. Second, the province has fostered integrated innovation across industries, technologies and systems. Taking construction machinery, Hunan's pillar industry, as an example, Shen said the province has proactively addressed the downward pressure the sector has faced in recent years. On the one hand, relevant companies have been encouraged to transform and expand into emerging fields such as new energy, autonomous driving, agricultural machinery and emergency equipment. On the other hand, the province has been strengthening whole-chain innovation in remanufacturing to address existing challenges. Third, Hunan has deepened cooperation with the Hainan Free Trade Port to develop the Hunan-Hainan Advanced Manufacturing Industrial Park, which has become a key hub for the export and maintenance of manufacturing products such as Hunan's construction machinery. This initiative has not only enhanced the international competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises in Hunan but has also optimized the industrial structure of the Hainan FTP, Shen said. To date, the park has attracted 29 projects with a total investment of 13.02 billion yuan. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
US stocks rally fades after China trade framework, oil prices jump
Wall Street stocks mostly fell Wednesday despite positive movement in the US-China trade conflict, while oil prices rallied on growing tensions between Washington and Tehran. Following two days of talks in London, top US and Chinese negotiators announced a "framework" agreement late Tuesday that included Chinese concessions on rare earth materials along with Washington allowing Chinese students to study at US universities. But stocks fell in what called a "sell the news" response to the announcement, which it also dismissed as short of "groundbreaking." "The two sides agreed to implement what was already agreed upon during a mid-May meeting in Switzerland," said. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned a broader deal with China would take a "longer process," saying it was possible to rebalance economic ties with Beijing only if Beijing proved a "reliable partner in trade negotiations." And for partners "negotiating in good faith," Bessent told a congressional committee, there could be an extended pause before higher threatened tariff rates take effect in July. The broad-based S&P 500, which rose the last three days, finished down 0.3 percent at 6,022.24. Elsewhere, London edged higher, supported by the government laying out its spending plans. But Paris and Frankfurt couldn't hold on to early gains and closed modestly lower. Asian stock markets also won a lift on the China-US progress, with Hong Kong among the best performers. "Constructive talks between the US and China have put markets on a firmer footing, as investors hope that the worst of the tariff turbulence may have passed," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor. Meanwhile, data showed little impact of Trump's tariffs on US consumer prices in May. Some analysts said it was still too early to discern a hit to prices from tariffs. Between April and May, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.1 percent. Analysts had expected it to continue at the 0.2 rate it rose in April. Following the release of the data, Trump issued a fresh call for the Fed to lower interest rates. Investors have worried that a tariff-driven surge in inflation could hinder the Federal Reserve from lowering interest rates to counter the slowdown in growth. In other markets, oil prices shot up more than four percent as Iran threatened to target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out. Amid escalating tensions, a US official said staff levels at the embassy in Iraq were being reduced over security concerns, while the UK Maritime Trade Operations, run by the British navy, advised ships to transit the Gulf with caution. - Key figures at around 2030 GMT - New York - Dow: FLAT at 42,865.77 (close) New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.3 percent at 6,022.24 (close) New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 19,615.88 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 8,864.35 (close) Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,775.90 (close) Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 23,948.90 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 38,421.19 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.8 percent at 24,366.94 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,402.32 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1489 from $1.1425 on Tuesday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3545 from $1.3500 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 144.62 yen from 144.87 yen Euro/pound: UP at 84.79 pence from 84.62 pence Brent North Sea Crude: UP 4.3 percent at $69.77 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: UP 4.9 percent at $68.15 per barrel burs-jmb/des
