分类： business

Against a backdrop of escalating geopolitical tension and mounting economic instability, finance leaders from the Group of Seven major global economies wrapped up two days of talks in Paris on Tuesday, leaving French officials acknowledging that negotiations were marked by candid, at times strained, exchanges before the bloc agreed to a unified statement reaffirming commitment to multilateral collaboration.\n\nRoland Lescure, France’s finance minister, told reporters following the closed-door meetings that delegates engaged in open, unvarnished discussions to craft both immediate and long-term policy responses to pressing global economic challenges, with the core goal of safeguarding broad-based economic stability. The gathering included top finance officials from all G7 members, among them United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.\n\nDespite the friction in talks, the G7’s final official communique reaffirmed the bloc’s core pledge to work together through multilateral frameworks to counter growing risks threatening the interconnected global economy. The document framed current global conditions as a series of overlapping, complex challenges that demand coordinated policy action, pointing specifically to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East as a key driver of heightened economic uncertainty.\n\nIn the communique, G7 leaders noted that the Middle Eastern conflict has amplified existing risks to both global growth and persistent inflation, with cascading disruptions hitting critical global supply chains. The statement specifically called out acute pressures on energy, food, and fertilizer supply networks — disruptions that disproportionately harm low-income and vulnerable developing economies that rely heavily on global imports.\n\nOne of the most pressing geopolitical economic issues addressed was the persistent disruption to global shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical strategic waterway that carries roughly a fifth of the world’s daily oil trade. Since the escalation of regional conflict, Iran has implemented an effective blockade that has severely restricted shipping traffic through the strait. The G7 statement called for an immediate end to the disruption, urging a “swift return to free and safe transit” for all commercial vessels.\n\nThis week’s meeting in the French capital was held as France holds the rotating G7 presidency, and it served as a key preparatory step for the group’s full head-of-state summit scheduled for June 2025. That higher-level gathering will be hosted at the Alpine lakeside resort of Evian, with French President Emmanuel Macron set to chair the proceedings, and U.S. President Donald Trump expected to attend in person.

Sixteen years after a bitter billion-dollar commercial conflict between Australia’s most powerful mining dynasties first erupted, legal representatives for the involved parties have headed back to a Western Australian court to resolve one last burning question: who will foot the staggering $100 million legal bill accumulated over more than a decade of litigation?

The dispute, which first kicked off in 2010, pits Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd (HPPL) against Wright Prospecting Pty Ltd (WPPL), another firm controlled by prominent mining heirs. The core of the conflict centered on contested rights to lucrative iron ore royalties and critical mining assets tied to the Hope Downs operation in Western Australia’s resource-rich Pilbara region. After years of pre-trial wrangling, the high-stakes case finally reached the WA Supreme Court for a full 53-day trial in 2023, with daily legal fees estimated at a jaw-dropping $250,000 – a rate that pushed total projected costs across the entire 16-year dispute to roughly $100 million, according to local media reports.

Last month, Justice Jennifer Smith delivered her long-awaited landmark ruling more than two years after the close of trial proceedings. The decision handed a major partial victory to WPPL, ordering HPPL to share hundreds of millions of dollars in iron ore royalties with the rival firm. DFD Rhodes, a third entity linked to the Rhodes mining family, also secured partial success in its claim for a share of royalties. However, Rinehart retained full control over the billion-dollar mining licences for the East Angelas site, after the court dismissed competing claims over that site from WPPL and from Rinehart’s own children, John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart.

With the core ownership and royalty questions settled, the court has now turned to the unresolved issue of cost allocation. Arguments put forward by all sides reveal deep divisions over who should bear responsibility for the massive legal expenses.

WPPL’s legal team is pushing for HPPL to cover 75% of its total costs, arguing that WPPL won the majority of its core claims. But HPPL’s senior counsel Charles Colquhoun SC pushed back, noting that his client retained ownership of the highest-value asset in the entire dispute – the East Angelas tenements. “It can’t be denied that we won on the propriety claim and there needs to be some victory on that issue,” Colquhoun told the court. “It was the most important issue in the proceedings, certainly the most valuable issue in the proceedings.”

The biggest point of contention now surrounds the failed claims brought by John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart, who were seeking a portion of their grandfather Lang Hancock’s mining legacy. DFD Rhodes has argued the pair should be held responsible for 15% of total costs, while WPPL is pushing for an even higher 20% allocation, arguing that the siblings’ involvement unnecessarily lengthened the proceedings and drained significant court and legal resources.

Julie Taylor SC, representing WPPL, told the court that the siblings’ defense alone spanned 250 pages, and their closing submissions ran to 749 pages. “John and Bianca took 14 days of the hearing time for their submissions alone, all the parties had to respond to that,” she said. “A rough estimate of 20 per cent would be fair.” For their part, the siblings have argued that each party should simply absorb its own legal costs after their unsuccessful claim.

The WA Supreme Court is now reviewing all submissions from the multiple involved parties before issuing a final ruling on cost allocation, closing the book on one of Australia’s longest-running and most expensive commercial mining disputes.

After suffering steep single-day losses on Monday, Australia’s domestic sharemarket staged a notable rebound on Wednesday, clawing back most of its earlier decline as broad-based sector growth was supported by a global drop in crude oil prices tied to easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

Nine out of 11 tracked market sectors posted gains by the close of trading, with only the technology sector edging 0.4% lower and the materials sector holding steady amid stagnant iron ore prices. The benchmark ASX 200 index climbed 99.4 points, or 1.17%, to settle at 8604.7, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 1.08% overall. The Australian dollar dipped slightly to around 71.3 US cents amid concurrent strengthening of the US dollar.

Leading the session’s gains was the consumer staples sector, lifted after banking giant JPMorgan upgraded its rating on supermarket giant Woolworths. The upgrade pushed Woolworths shares up 3.7% for the day, pulling the entire sector upward alongside it. “The ASX200 has bounced back from yesterday’s poleaxing in a solid fashion, regaining a good chunk of the 105 points lost in yesterday’s demolition derby,” explained Tony Sycamore, a market analyst with international trading firm IG.

The drop in global oil prices that supported market sentiment came after former US President Donald Trump announced he would postpone a planned military strike on Iran, a decision made at the request of major Middle Eastern oil producers Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Trump also confirmed that “serious negotiations are now taking place” with Iranian officials to de-escalate regional tensions, though Sycamore noted market analysts remain skeptical of a quick, lasting peace deal. “Frankly, we’re not overly convinced about the near-term prospects of a peace deal and suspect the motivation to hold fire stemmed from the weekend’s fresh drone attacks on the UAE and Saudi Arabia,” he added.

The de-escalation of geopolitical risk calmed global bond markets and pulled crude prices lower: international benchmark Brent Crude fell 1.3% on the day, while US West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 0.9%. For Australia’s materials sector, a concurrent slip in iron ore futures erased potential gains, leaving the sector flat overall. Mining giant BHP dipped 0.1%, Fortescue Metals fell 0.3%, and rare earths producer Lynas Rare Earths dropped 4.3%.

Notable outliers in the resources space included Perth-based Northern Minerals, whose shares surged 21.7% after the company confirmed it would comply with Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ order requiring Chinese investors to divest their stakes amid a months-long boardroom takeover conflict. Mineral Resources also posted a 2.6% gain after announcing it would restart its Western Australia-based lithium mine in response to recovering global lithium prices. Bellevue Gold added 2% after extracting the first batch of ore from its new high-grade Deacon North mine in Western Australia.
Across the financial sector, Australia’s big four major banks all recorded gains between 1.3% and 2%, while QBE Insurance climbed 2.9% and insurance broker Steadfast rose 3.7%. Real estate stocks also recovered from Monday’s broad sell-off: industrial property giant Goodman Group gained 1.8%, shopping centre operator Scentre Group added 1.4%, and diversified developer Stockland rose 3.1%.

In the telecommunications space, the sector as a whole climbed 2.7% to hit a six-month high. National carrier Telstra gained 2.6%, CAR Group rose 3.7%, and employment platform Seek added 3.4%. Infrastructure owner Tuas, which saw its shares crash 63% on Monday, rebounded 17.6% in Wednesday’s trading.

In corporate news, Geelong-based carbon fibre wheel manufacturer Carbon Revolution announced that creditors had approved a restructuring deal that will allow the firm to exit voluntary administration. The company, which was originally listed on the ASX before being delisted from the NASDAQ in February, produces lightweight wheels that deliver significant efficiency gains for heavy electric vehicles, but intense competition from Chinese EV manufacturers eroded its market valuation from a peak of AU$500 million to just AU$30,000 in recent years.

Australia’s budget e-commerce sector has been hit by a fresh business failure, with online discount retailer Oz Goods Depot announcing it has entered liquidation and will cease all operations immediately, leaving thousands of customers with unfulfilled orders locked out of refunds and direct support.

The shutdown was formally confirmed in an official notice published by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) this Friday, which outlined that a shareholder general meeting held on May 15 passed a formal resolution to wind up the company. Industry insolvency expert Anthony John Warner from CRS Insolvency Services has been officially appointed to oversee the liquidation process.

Operating as a dedicated Australian online discount retailer, Oz Goods Depot positioned itself as a one-stop shop for affordable home goods, stocking everything from garden furniture and large home appliances to pet supplies and everyday lifestyle essentials. Before its collapse, the retailer said it had fulfilled more than 25,000 orders across the country.

In a public statement posted to the retailer’s website ahead of the formal liquidation filing, the company’s ownership team framed the decision to close as a difficult but necessary call. “After an incredible journey, Oz Goods Depot has made the difficult decision to cease trading and wind down operations,” the statement read. “We are proud to have shipped more than 25,000 orders to customers across Australia, and we sincerely thank every customer who supported us along the way.”

As part of the formal wind-down, all unshipped and unfulfilled orders have been immediately cancelled, with no plans to complete outstanding purchases. The retailer confirmed that all business operations and customer support services have ceased, meaning customer service inboxes are no longer monitored or responded to. Instead of offering direct refunds, the company has advised affected customers to first reach out to their banks or payment providers to pursue payment reversals. Customers who cannot resolve their claims through payment providers have been told they can submit a formal debt claim to the appointed liquidator via a dedicated email contact.

Notably, the liquidator cannot issue direct refunds to customers due to the company’s insolvent status, and submitting a claim only formalizes the recording of customer debt for the liquidation process. By Tuesday this week, all of Oz Goods Depot’s social media pages had already been taken down, cutting off another key channel for customers seeking support.

The sudden collapse has already sparked widespread frustration from impacted buyers, who have taken to review platforms to share their experiences of lost funds and poor communication. One customer who paid for a garden shed reported receiving only a curt notification weeks after placing their order that the business was closing, with no path to a refund. Another customer said they had waited more than five weeks for a refund after being told their ordered product was out of stock, with no updates from the retailer before the shutdown announcement. Dozens of other customers have shared similar accounts of unfulfilled orders, unprocessed refunds, and a total lack of communication from the brand in the lead-up to its closure.

Newly released minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s May monetary policy board meeting have revealed policymakers see clear room to hold interest rates steady next month, breaking a streak of three consecutive rate hikes that kicked off 2026.

At the early May gathering, a majority of 8 out of 9 board members voted in favor of a 25-basis-point hike that pushed the official cash rate to 4.25%, leaving the current benchmark at that level heading into June. The meeting’s deliberations, made public on Tuesday, center on balancing persistent above-target inflation with growing economic uncertainty triggered by the ongoing Middle East conflict.

The minutes note that even before the conflict escalated, inflation had run far above the RBA’s 2-3% target range. However, the regional instability has delivered a sharp, unanticipated shock to the global economic outlook, driving up fuel prices and creating new near-term inflationary pressures that monetary policy is powerless to mitigate in the short term.

“Having decided by majority to raise the cash rate target by 25 basis points, members considered what their deliberations implied for upcoming decisions … (they) agreed that the decision would give the board space to see how the conflict in the Middle East develops and Australian households and businesses respond,” the minutes read.

Across multiple scenarios tied to the conflict’s trajectory, underlying inflation is projected to remain above the RBA’s target for an extended period. Policymakers emphasized that keeping monetary policy restrictive remains critical to preventing broader, long-lasting inflationary spillover from energy cost shocks and keeping medium- to long-term inflation expectations anchored. The RBA’s current baseline forecasts project headline inflation will return to the target range by mid-2027, with less volatile underlying inflation hitting the 2-3% band by mid-2028. That outlook, however, hinges on two key assumptions: a rapid resolution of the Middle East conflict that pulls oil prices lower, and a gradual easing of domestic capacity pressures across the Australian economy.

Speaking at a Sydney Bloomberg forum on the same day the minutes were released, RBA Chief Economist Sarah Hunter added new context to the central bank’s outlook, noting policymakers are closely monitoring the housing market for cooling effects following changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts announced in the recent federal budget. Hunter confirmed the RBA expects the pace of dwelling construction activity to slow over the forecast horizon, a trend consistent with the cumulative impact of previous rate hikes. Higher energy prices have already eroded Australian households’ real incomes, she added, a headwind that will likely weigh heavily on consumer spending in coming months. Hunter stressed that significant uncertainty remains around the inflation outlook: oil prices could stay elevated far longer than current market pricing suggests, and a wider escalation of the Middle East conflict could trigger prolonged global supply chain disruptions that push inflation even higher.

The RBA’s cautious, wait-and-see approach has drawn criticism from some market analysts, who argue the central bank has repeatedly fallen behind the curve on tackling inflation. Marc Jocum, a strategist at Global X ETFs, argued that the RBA’s delayed response to persistent inflation has forced the stop-start pattern of rate adjustments this year, after rate cuts in 2025. Jocum noted that February inflation data and April cost pressures already made clear that broader inflationary pressure was spreading through the Australian economy months ago. “The RBA is again arriving late to the party, like a pilot announcing turbulence after passengers have already spilt their drinks on board,” he said. “The RBA no longer needs a telescope to spot the inflation iceberg, as it’s now right in front of them.” While he acknowledged the Middle East conflict was an unforeseen shock that upended projections, Jocum said the RBA’s inconsistent policymaking raises questions about the central bank’s credibility, making it harder for households and businesses to plan for future economic conditions.

The dissenting board member who voted against the May hike shared concerns over downside demand risks, arguing that domestic capacity pressures were weaker than RBA staff projections suggested and that the risk of inflation expectations becoming unanchored was overstated.

Major bank economists have broadly aligned with the RBA’s signal that a June pause is the most likely outcome. Commonwealth Bank forecasts the RBA will hold rates steady for the remainder of 2026, with senior CBA economist Ashwin Clarke noting the minutes confirm the central bank wants time to assess the impact of three consecutive hikes and the ongoing Middle East conflict before moving again. While CBA expects rates to remain on hold over the next year, Clarke added that risks to the rate path remain tilted to the upside.

ANZ’s economics team also shares the view that a June rate hike is increasingly unlikely, and projects the RBA will hold the cash rate steady at 4.35% for an extended period. “The board thinks that financial conditions are tight but is uncertain on the extent of this and so is in more of a ‘wait and see’ mode with respect to developments, both with domestic activity and the Middle East conflict,” ANZ’s economists noted. Market consensus currently leans toward a pause in June, with a small share of analysts still projecting one final rate hike by November to bring inflation under control faster.

Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continued to shape global financial trading on Tuesday, as Asian equity markets traded mixed and crude oil pulled back from recent elevated levels after former U.S. President Donald Trump announced he would delay a planned military strike on Iran to allow for diplomatic negotiations. The pullback in oil prices came amid glimmers of hope for de-escalation, but ongoing uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz kept energy markets volatile and investor risk appetite in check.

The regional conflict that began in late February between the U.S.-Israel bloc and opposing forces has resulted in a de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the critical chokepoint that carries roughly 20 percent of the world’s global oil exports during peacetime. In a post to his Truth Social platform Tuesday, Trump revealed that the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates had requested he hold off the scheduled military strike to open space for negotiations. He wrote that he had granted the request, as “serious negotiations are now taking place.”

Despite pausing offensive action, Trump stressed that U.S. military forces remain on high alert, ready to launch a full-scale large-scale assault on Iran at a moment’s notice if negotiations fail to reach an acceptable outcome. Speaking at a subsequent White House event, he framed the current diplomatic push as a “very positive development,” noting that key Arab regional allies believe a final deal is within reach that would see Iran abandon its nuclear program — a goal Tehran has long denied pursuing.

“There seems to be a very good chance that they can work something out. If we can do that without bombing the hell out of them, I’d be very happy,” Trump told reporters, while reiterating his warning that military action remains on the table if talks collapse. This dual messaging underscored the continued fragility of security in one of the world’s most energy-rich regions.

The prospect of a diplomatic breakthrough sent oil prices lower, though the decline provided only limited relief after weeks of extreme volatility driven by the ongoing Middle East conflict. At the time of reporting, global benchmark Brent crude hovered around $109 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate traded near $107. Official data as of 0230 GMT recorded Brent down 2.1 percent at $109.75 per barrel, while WTI bucked the broader trend to gain 1.2 percent, hitting $107.40 a barrel.

Across Asian equity markets, performance was uneven as investors balanced cautious optimism over diplomacy with lingering anxiety over geopolitical and economic risks. Japan’s Nikkei 225 opened and closed 0.5 percent lower at 60,537.87, as broader geopolitical jitters offset a better-than-expected first-quarter GDP report that showed the Japanese economy expanding 0.5 percent, exceeding analyst forecasts of 0.4 percent growth. South Korea’s Kospi index fell more than four percent, dragged down by steep losses in the technology sector that tracked downward movement on Wall Street a day earlier. Markets in Shanghai, Taipei, and Jakarta also closed lower, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gained 0.3 percent to hit 25,740.60, and benchmarks in Sydney and Wellington also finished in positive territory.

Safe-haven assets edged higher on Tuesday, with gold and silver posting small gains, a signal that investor caution remains elevated despite the diplomatic opening. All market eyes are now turning to Wednesday, when U.S. semiconductor giant Nvidia is set to release its quarterly earnings results. The report is widely anticipated as investors seek clarity on whether massive current investments in artificial intelligence data center infrastructure will deliver the strong returns market participants have priced in.

Other global market moves were muted. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.3 percent at 49,686.12 in New York’s previous session, while London’s FTSE 100 gained 1.3 percent to close at 10,323.75. Currency markets saw minor shifts: the pound dipped to $1.3416 from $1.3422 on Monday, the euro edged up against sterling to 86.80 pence, fell slightly against the dollar to $1.1645, and the dollar gained marginally against the yen to reach 158.98 yen.