☕️ High wire

Good morning.

Equity investors have breathed a small sigh of relief after the US Fed largely ruled out the possibility its next rate move could be a hike.

But any rate cuts may also be a way off, with chair Jerome Powell saying the central bank needed to be more comfortable that inflation is under control.

“It is likely that gaining such greater confidence will take longer than previously expected. We are prepared to maintain the current target federal funds rate for as long as appropriate,.”

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Market movers

One of the few bright spots on the ASX yesterday were uranium stocks with Deep Yellow leading the group higher.

The move followed approval from the US Senate on legislation banning the import of enriched uranium from Russia. One day earlier, Toronto fundie MM Asset Management appeared on Deep Yellow’s register with a 5% stake.

The quick sync

• How global exchanges are jostling for Australia’s next generation of companies (Capital Brief)

• Microsoft and Brookfield sign US$10b green deal to power data centres (Reuters)

• HSBC is looking for a new boss at half the pay of US rivals (WSJ)

• PsiQuantum boss explains why his US startup deserves Australia's $1b investment (Capital Brief)

• US consumers are finally cutting back spending – and McDonalds, KFC and Starbucks are the first to know (CNBC)

• Tesla redundancies have imperilled the supercharging industry (WSJ)

Trading floor

M&A

• Wesfarmers paused its potential acquisition of Ramsay Health Care after conducting thorough analysis. (The Australian)

• EQT buys Potentia's NewBook for $250m, yielding significant returns. (AFR)

• Woolworths to sell 5% stake in Endeavour for $468m, retaining 4.1% ownership. (Capital Brief)

• PHG delays auction for Empire Hotel amid debt challenges. (AFR)

• Asahi acquired Never Never Distilling Co, a premium gin maker founded by a former Macquarie banker. (AFR)

• Austal's shares rose over 3% as Defense Minister Richard Marles indicated the government wouldn't oppose Hanwha's acquisition of the naval shipbuilder. (The Australian)

Capital Markets

• Fifth Estate backs Hometime with $10m; debt raise underway. (AFR)

• White Bay Brewery partners with Sydney Swans, raises capital. (AFR)

• NexGen Energy increases equity raise to $250m from initial $200m due to strong demand. (AFR)

VC

• Airwallex, a Melbourne fintech unicorn, launched Airwallex for Startups to deepen connections with Australian startups. (Capital Brief)

• Canberra startup Aristotle Metadata gains traction with software enhancing data collection through a searchable metadata registry. (BNA)

• Three Australian space tech startups secured $18m in funding from the Australian government's International Space Investment India Projects program. (Startup Daily)

People moves

• Deutsche Bank veteran Hugh Macdonald exits Australia arm after spearheading a five-year restructure (AFR)

• Binance founder Changpeng Zhao sentenced to four months in US prison for money laundering. (Bloomberg)

• Reece Group CEO Peter Wilson to become joint chair and CEO, Tim Poole to retire in October. (Capital Brief)

• Morgans' Brisbane corporate advisory head, John Polinelli, resigns after 14 years. (AFR)

• Synlait Milk's co-founder and chair, John Penno, has resigned, with independent director George Adams taking his place. (Capital Brief)

• Paul Dumbrell has declined the Bapcor CEO job, sparking speculation. (The Australian)

Together with First Cheque podcast

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Learn from interviews with leading investors at Airtree, AfterWork, Archangel, Blackbird, Main Sequence, Startmate, and more.

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The watercooler