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    Fed official says interest rates should stay on hold for ‘extended’ time

    Standard DigitalWeekend Print + Standard Digitalwasnow $85 per monthBilled Quarterly at $199. Complete digital access plus the FT newspaper delivered Monday-Saturday.What’s included Global news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts20 monthly gift articles to shareLex: FT’s flagship investment column15+ Premium newsletters by leading expertsFT Digital Edition: our digitised print editionWeekday Print EditionFT WeekendFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysisFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysisGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts10 monthly gift articles to shareGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts20 monthly gift articles to shareLex: FT’s flagship investment column15+ Premium newsletters by leading expertsFT Digital Edition: our digitised print editionEverything in PrintWeekday Print EditionFT WeekendFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysisPlusEverything in Premium DigitalEverything in Standard DigitalGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresFirstFT newsletterVideos & PodcastsFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit app10 gift articles per monthExclusive FT analysisPremium newslettersFT Digital Edition10 additional gift articles per monthMake and share highlightsFT WorkspaceMarkets data widgetSubscription ManagerWorkflow integrationsOccasional readers go freeVolume discountFT Weekend Print deliveryPlusEverything in Standard DigitalFT Weekend Print deliveryPlusEverything in Premium Digital More

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    Australia lifts minimum wage as families grapple with higher living costs

    The minimum rate will rise to A$24.10 ($16.05) per hour from July 1, resulting in an extra A$33 per week for about a fifth of the Australian workforce or about 2.6 million employees. In its annual review, the Fair Work Commission said cost-of-living pressures have hit low-income employees the most, though inflation is considerably lower now than it was at this time last year, when it awarded an increase of 5.75%.But the report said it was not “appropriate at this time to increase award wages by any amount significantly above the inflation rate principally because labour productivity is no higher than it was four years ago.”Australian consumer price inflation rose at an annual pace of 3.6% in April, the highest level in five months, adding to risks the next move in interest rates might be upward.($1 = 1.5020 Australian dollars) More

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    Term Structure Mainnet Launches, Revolutionizing DeFi with Market-Driven Fixed-Income Solutions

    Term Structure, the pioneering non-custodial fixed-income protocol, has officially gone live with its mainnet on Ethereum. This launch introduces the first institutional-grade, market-driven fixed-income protocol, revolutionizing how liquidity is provided between lenders and borrowers in decentralized finance (DeFi). Users can use their LSTs and LRTs as collateral to borrow tokens at fixed rates and terms and earn points and staking rewards in the primary markets, where the auction mechanism facilitates borrowing and lending. Meanwhile, the secondary markets support the trading of these fixed-income tokens through a real-time order book to enhance liquidity. Co-founder Jerry Li, speaking from a traditional finance (TradFi) perspective, suggests that the lack of fixed-income products in the market is a major factor hindering the exponential growth of DeFi. The Term Structure Protocol fills this gap by providing fixed-rate and fixed-term products that enhance risk management and introduce a range of trading strategies previously unavailable in the DeFi ecosystem. These strategies are crucial for both institutional and individual investment planning.With its mainnet launch, Term Structure aims to establish new global standards for liquidity management and allow users to secure a fixed cost of funds. This is essential for leverage opportunities to potentially earn higher floating APYs or to capitalize on token price appreciation. “Our mainnet, designed to cater to institutional clients, traders, and retail investors, marks a pivotal development in DeFi. It allows users to leverage their digital assets with fixed rates and terms,” said Jerry Li. Users can earn additional points and staking rewards by looping their LRTs and LSTs on Term Structure. Source: Term Structure Term Structure stands out by offering a unified fixed-income market that integrates both primary and secondary markets, unlike other protocols that separate them or use AMMs for different tokens. To get started, users can use their LSTs and LRTs as collateral to borrow tokens at fixed rates and terms, set their preferred interest rates, and choose maturity dates in the primary markets. When orders are matched, borrowers receive the borrowed tokens and must repay their debts by the maturity date to reclaim their collateral. Meanwhile, lenders receive fixed-income tokens redeemable at maturity for the principal plus interest. The secondary markets support the buying and selling of these fixed-income tokens through a real-time order book. Furthermore, the protocol leverages zkTrue-up, a customized ZK Rollup, to eliminate gas fees for placing and canceling orders, ensure fast finality, and maintain data availability. It includes safety features like Forced Withdrawal and Evacuation Mode to secure user assets in emergencies.zkTrue-up allows users to withdraw their funds anytime, eliminates gas fees for placing and canceling orders, and achieves fast transaction finality. Source: Term StructureAhead of its mainnet launch, Term Structure secured initial funding of $4.55 million in a series of seed fundraising rounds from industry-leading investors including Cumberland DRW, Decima Fund, HashKey Capital, Longling Capital, and MZ Web3 Fund. To further improve the protocol’s security and reliability, the protocol’s smart contracts and ZK circuits have been meticulously audited by ABDK and HashCloak, two leading blockchain security firms. Moreover, the protocol has completed the trusted setup ceremony for zkTrue-up in collaboration with ABDK, HashCloak, and Web3 software development company Bware Labs. This ensures the security of zkTrue-up by discarding “toxic waste” (i.e., data that could deceive the system into accepting false proofs), thereby preventing anyone from controlling it and eliminating the possibility of a rug pull.About Term StructureTerm Structure introduces a distinct ZK Rollup solution democratizing fixed-rate and fixed-term borrowing and lending as well as fixed income trading by offering low transaction fees. Backed by Cumberland, HashKey Capital, Decima Fund, Longling Capital, and MZ Web3 Fund.For more information, users can visit Term Structure’s website at https://ts.finance/ and follow Term Structure’s social media updates:X | Discord | Telegram | LinkedInContactNovalia WinataTerm [email protected] article was originally published on Chainwire More

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    Washington Post executive editor Sally Buzbee steps down

    (Reuters) – The executive editor of the Washington Post, Sally Buzbee, the first woman to lead the newspaper’s newsroom, has stepped down from her role, the publication said on Sunday.Matt Murray, ex Editor in Chief of the Wall Street Journal, will replace her  until the November 2024 presidential election, and will then be followed by Robert  Winnett of the Telegraph Media Group, who will become the newspaper’s editor, the Washington Post said in a post on its website. More

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    Asia shares rally on hopes for more rate cuts this week

    SYDNEY (Reuters) – Asian share markets rose on Monday as investors looked forward to a rate cut in Europe, and quite possibly Canada, as the next step in global policy easing, though sticky inflation threatens to make the process a drawn out affair.The European Central Bank (ECB) is considered almost certain to trim rates by a quarter point to 3.75% on Thursday, the first time in history it would have eased ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve.However, a surprisingly high reading for Euro zone inflationout last week blunted hopes for a rapid round of reductions and markets have 55 basis points of easing priced in for this year.”The probability of back-to-back cuts now appears very low, putting the focus for a second move on September,” said Bruce Kasman, head of economic research at JPMorgan. “We suspect President Christine Lagarde will signal that the direction of rates is downward next week, but the policy statement will emphasize that future moves are data-dependent, and there is no pre-commitment to a particular rate path.” Markets also imply around an 80% chance the Bank of Canada will cut at its meeting on Wednesday and 59 basis points of easing this year, though analysts are hopeful the easing will be even deeper. Investors are a lot less dovish on the Fed, seeing little prospect of a move until September and even that is far from a done deal.The outlook could change this week given data due includes key surveys on services and manufacturing, and the May payrolls report where unemployment is seen holding at 3.9% as 190,000 net new jobs are created. The prospect of lower borrowing costs globally has been generally positive for equities, though disappointing economic news from China somewhat soured the mood in Asia.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.3%, having slid 2.5% last week.Japan’s Nikkei rose a further 1.0%, after rebounding from one-month lows on Friday.Indian markets are waiting to see if Prime Minister Narendra Modi will expand his alliance’s majority in parliament when election results are released on Tuesday, amid speculation this would lead to more economic reforms. Month-end flows saw Wall Street stage a late rally on Friday and left the Nasdaq up almost 7% for May. Early on Monday, S&P 500 futures were up 0.2%, with Nasdaq futures adding 0.1%.In forex markets, the Japanese yen remains the weakest of the majors, though the government is clearly prepared to spend big to slow its slide. Data out last week showed Tokyo spent 9.788 trillion yen ($62.27 billion) on currency intervention between April 26 and May 29.The dollar stood at 157.15 yen, just off last week’s peak of 157.715. The euro held firm at $1.0852, still benefiting from the EU inflation report, but faces resistance at $1.0895. [FRX/]Gold was steady at $2,326 an ounce, having now rallied for four months in a row helped in part by buying from central banks and China. [GOL/]Oil prices initially eased after OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to extend most of its oil output cuts into 2025, though some cuts will start to be unwound from October 2024 onwards. [O/R]Brent dipped 26 cents to $80.85 a barrel, while U.S. crude fell 22 cents to $76.77 per barrel.($1 = 157.1900 yen) More

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    South Korea factory activity expands at fastest pace in two years

    SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s factory activity expanded in May at the fastest pace in two years on stronger growth in output and orders thanks to broadening global demand, a private-sector survey showed on Monday.The purchasing managers index (PMI) for manufacturers in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, compiled by S&P Global, rose to 51.6 in May, from 49.4 in April, on a seasonally adjusted basis. It was the highest reading since May 2022, and comes after two consecutive months below the 50-mark separating expansion from contraction.Output jumped at the quickest rate since July 2021, while new orders increased by the most since February 2022 thanks to new product launches, stronger export sales and greater domestic client appetite, according to the survey.New export orders rose for a fifth straight month, as manufacturers recorded sales growth across various markets, from Europe to North and South America, as well as Asian countries like China, Japan and Vietnam.South Korea’s exports have been growing since October and provided the biggest boost to the trade-reliant economy’s first quarter growth, which was the fastest in more than two years. “South Korea’s manufacturing sector appears to have caught a second wind,” Joe Hayes, principal economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said.”Qualitative evidence from the survey also paints a promising forward-looking picture, with panelists commenting on imminent new product launches providing them with a platform for sustainable production expansion.”To meet robust demand, manufacturers raised their purchases by the biggest since April 2022. On the downside, however, inflation in input prices was the fastest in seven months amid unfavourable exchange rate movements and higher prices of raw materials, such as aluminium, nickel and copper.Manufacturers’ optimism for the year ahead slipped in May, after logging a near two-year high in April, but it was still the second-highest since June 2022. More

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    Japan Q1 capex rises but at slower pace

    The data will be used to calculate revised gross domestic product figures due on June 10. It followed a preliminary estimate that Japan’s economy contracted 2.0% annualised in the first quarter.Capital spending slowed sharply from the fourth quarter, when it had jumped 16.4%.The solid first-quarter capex data could bolster the case for the central bank to proceed with normalising monetary policy over time.Capital expenditure fell 4.2% on a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis.Monday’s MOF capex data also showed corporate sales rose 2.3% in the first quarter from a year earlier, and recurring profits increased 15.1%. More

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    FirstFT: Russia-China gas pipeline deal hits snag

    Standard DigitalWeekend Print + Standard Digitalwasnow $75 per monthComplete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders. Pay a year upfront and save 20%.What’s included Global news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts20 monthly gift articles to shareLex: FT’s flagship investment column15+ Premium newsletters by leading expertsFT Digital Edition: our digitised print editionWeekday Print EditionFT WeekendFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysisFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysisGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts10 monthly gift articles to shareGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts20 monthly gift articles to shareLex: FT’s flagship investment column15+ Premium newsletters by leading expertsFT Digital Edition: our digitised print editionEverything in PrintWeekday Print EditionFT WeekendFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysisPlusEverything in Premium DigitalEverything in Standard DigitalGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresFirstFT newsletterVideos & PodcastsFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit app10 gift articles per monthExclusive FT analysisPremium newslettersFT Digital Edition10 additional gift articles per monthMake and share highlightsFT WorkspaceMarkets data widgetSubscription ManagerWorkflow integrationsOccasional readers go freeVolume discountFT Weekend Print deliveryPlusEverything in Standard DigitalFT Weekend Print deliveryPlusEverything in Premium Digital More