Australia's Macquarie picks up stakes in UK airports

June 18 (Reuters) - Australia's Macquarie Group (MQG.AX), opens new tab said on Wednesday that its asset management arm has acquired stakes in Bristol, Birmingham and London City airports from Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan for an undisclosed amount.
The investment bank is buying a 55% stake in Bristol airport, 26.5% stake in Birmingham airport and a 25% interest in the London City airport.

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The Guardian

22 minutes ago

• The Guardian

Petrol prices could rise to $2 a litre in Australia amid Middle East conflict, analysts warn

Australian motorists could be paying $2 a litre for petrol in coming weeks, after US military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities triggered a lift in oil prices on Monday. As the IMF warned that turmoil in international energy markets posed a threat to global growth, analysts said higher fuel and power costs would be another blow to households still struggling with the high cost of living. The prospect of higher energy prices may also delay the next Reserve Bank rate cut to August instead of July, economists said. The international oil benchmark, Brent crude, briefly climbed above $US80 a barrel early on Monday morning compared with Friday's close of just over $US77, before easing to $US78.12 in late afternoon trade. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Oil has jumped by more than 20% in June, or by about $US14 a barrel, as tensions have ratcheted higher since Israel's earlier wave of strikes on Iran. Iran's Press TV reported at the weekend that the Iranian parliament approved a measure to close the strait of Hormuz, a narrow strip of water through which about a fifth of the world's oil supply passes. Fears of more severe disruptions to global oil supplies were only heightened when Bloomberg reported that two oil supertankers approaching the strait had performed abrupt U-turns after news of the US strikes emerged. But CBA energy analyst, Vivek Dhar, said it was more likely that Iran would adopt more 'symbolic' measures that allow room for deescalation with Israel and a return of oil prices to between $US60 and $US65 . Still, Dhar said it was possible that Iran could choose to disrupt shipping through the strait of Hormuz via missile and drone attacks. If that were to happen, oil prices could push to $US100 a barrel, with major consequences for the global economy. 'Right now, Brent oil at about $US80 is caught between those two polarising outcomes,' he said. Closer to home, Dhar estimated that oil at current levels of $US75 to 80 barrel, if maintained, already suggested prices at the pump would climb $1.90 to $2 a litre, from $1.75 a litre on average last week. And at $US100, motorists could be facing unprecedented unleaded fuel prices of between $2.30 and $2.40. AMP chief economist, Shane Oliver, estimated that oil prices of $US100 would translate to a lower $2.13 a litre at the pump. Even that lower level would push the average Australian household's petrol bill to a historic $74.55 a week, or about $14 a week higher than now. 'The economy is already pretty sluggish, and having to fork out an extra $15 a week, or $780 a year, would start to be quite a drag on consumer spending,' Oliver said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Oliver said higher fuel and energy prices could add 0.3 percentage points to headline inflation - and potentially more in a worst-case scenario - which could add to the case for the Reserve Bank board to hold off on cutting rates when it next meets on 7-8 July. Even so, an August move remained on the cards, Oliver said. The chief economist at Barrenjoey Capital Partners, Jo Masters, agreed that a spike towards $US100 oil prices was 'plausible', and that the uncertainty triggered by Israel's attack on Iran was more reason for the RBA to wait until August to cut rates in order to assess the fall-out on inflation and growth. The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, warned the turmoil in global energy markets could deliver another blow to a global economy already under pressure from Donald Trump's tariffs. Georgieva told Bloomberg the IMF was wary that 'there could be secondary and tertiary impacts' from oil market disruptions. 'Let's say there is more turbulence that goes into hitting growth prospects in large economies — then you have a trigger impact of downward revisions in prospects for global growth,' she said. Steve Miller, a market strategist at GSFM Funds Management, said he was a little surprised with the sanguine reaction in financial markets, as shown by only modest selling in sharemarkets and similarly modest buying in safe-haven assets, such as gold. 'The clear outcome from this is uncertainty, and we don't know what the shape of any Iranian retaliation looks like, but it could be serious,' Miller said. 'I wonder if the market's taken a view that Iran is essentially impotent, as that's not a view I would subscribe to.' He added: 'I think there could be quite severe economic consequences of this. The US is already flirting with a stagflation-like environment where inflation is at 3% and just 1.4% growth, and this could exacerbate that. If inflation gets out of the bottle and with the US deficit already at 6.5% of GDP and likely to grow - that's a very nasty cocktail for markets.'

Daily Mail​

an hour ago

• Daily Mail​

EXCLUSIVE My account was suspended by mistake by my bank... you wouldn't believe the infuriating lengths I had to take to unfreeze it

An ING customer has lashed out at her bank for taking days to unfreeze her account after it was mistakenly locked because of 'suspicious activity'. Katie McMaster, 35, who has been a loyal customer of the digital bank for over ten years, received an email from ING's fraud department stating her account had been suspended last Tuesday. The Melbourne resident was unable to access her money or use her card as a result. She called the bank's customer service team to make sure the email was legitimate. ING confirmed the correspondence, but told Ms McMaster she would have to wait until their fraud team contacted her to resolve the issue. Ms McMaster told Daily Mail Australia the process was 'very scary' as she was told she had to send over personal information via email because ING's fraud team would not speak to her unless her identity had been verified. The personal assistant was subsequently sent a verification text from the bank and told to upload her identification. She then heard nothing from ING and was left unable to access her funds and did not receive a response until Thursday evening, when she was asked to confirm the 'suspicious transactions'. The two flagged transactions included her monthly salary, which Ms McMaster said is paid into her account at the same time each month for the past three years, and a $300 transfer from a friend for an Usher ticket. Ms McMaster said the process was particularly concerning because the only account she was able to use was her credit card which accrues interest. After confirming the two transactions, she received a call from an ING employee who unblocked her accounts 'on the spot' and apologised for the delay, explaining she was the only one manning the fraud email inbox. Ms McMaster raised an official complaint over the incident and received $100 in compensation, but insisted she was looking to move banks. She revealed she had received further correspondence from ING following the complaint, but suspected this was due to a TikTok she made about her experience. 'ING has advised that my feedback has been shared with the relevant areas and that feedback is regularly reviewed by management to identify opportunities to improve their service,' she said. 'However, they did acknowledge that asking for my personal information over email is also their standard procedure which was concerning. 'I am hoping they will actually do a proper review as this is not a secure way to obtain sensitive customer information in my opinion. 'ING have only responded publicly by saying they were following their process so let's hope this has called for a review in their organisation. 'I think ING has heard me due to my TikTok so let's hope they have listened.' Ms McMaster was met with hundreds of responses from other Australians who claimed to have experienced similar incidents with ING. One wrote: 'I had a very similar experience with ING in 2020, I was a loyal customer for five years and suddenly they froze my savings account with no explanation besides 'suspicious activity'. 'I had no access to my funds (that I used to pay my rent and bills) after so many calls/emails and formal complaint processes that went nowhere with zero response, they finally released my funds in 2023 with interest and still no explanation - I'm obviously no longer a customer and will never go back.' 'I'd refuse to send personal details over email, that's ridiculous!! All our banks are absolutely useless nowadays - they do not care because they're making billions in profits,' another wrote. 'A great result, glad it got sorted! ING suck! They reeled me in with their interest rate. But the customer service has always been appalling,' a third added.

Reuters

2 hours ago

• Reuters

Analysts react as markets brace for Iran response to US attack

SINGAPORE, June 23 (Reuters) - Global shares slipped on Monday while oil prices briefly hit five-month highs and the dollar firmed as the world held its breath to see if Iran would retaliate against U.S. attacks on its nuclear sites. Market reaction to the weekend escalation of the conflict in the Middle East has been subdued so far as investors remain in wait-and-see mode. Here are some comments from market analysts: CAROL KONG, CURRENCY STRATEGIST, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA, SYDNEY: "The price action in response to the escalating Middle East conflict has been muted so far as markets wait and see how Iran responds. Judging by the small fall in FOMC rate cut pricing by year-end, there are more worries about the positive inflationary impact of the Middle East conflict than the negative economic impact. The currency markets will be at the mercy of comments and actions from the Iranian, Israeli and U.S. governments. The risks are clearly skewed to further upside in the safe haven currencies if the parties escalate the conflict." CHARU CHANANA, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, SAXO, SINGAPORE: "Markets appear to be treating the U.S. strikes on Iran as a contained event for now, rather than the start of a broader war. The muted haven flows suggest investors are still assuming this is a one-off escalation, not a disruption to global oil supply or trade. "Markets may be responding not to the escalation itself, but to the perception that it could reduce longer-term uncertainty. If Iran's nuclear capabilities are seen as meaningfully set back, some investors may interpret that as a de-escalation in disguise — a geopolitical risk removed, rather than added. "That said, any sign of Iranian retaliation or threat to the Strait of Hormuz could quickly shift sentiment and force markets to reprice geopolitical risk more aggressively." PRASHANT NEWNAHA, SENIOR ASIA-PACIFIC RATES STRATEGIST, TD SECURITIES, SINGAPORE: "The market reaction to weekend developments has been muted to state the least. The price action implies this will be a short-lived conflict, that escalation will ultimately lead to de-escalation." SHOKI OMORI, CHIEF DESK STRATEGIST, MIZUHO SECURITIES, TOKYO: "On Monday, in light of weekend geopolitical risk events in the Middle East, market participants adopted a wait-and-see stance. Although the market initially anticipated a bull-flattening of the JGB curve following last week's unexpectedly large reduction in 20-year bond issuance, muted movements in U.S. interest rates, combined with a shift in sentiment toward dollar buying rather than selling, made it challenging for investors to take decisive positions." VASU MENON, MANAGING DIRECTOR, INVESTMENT STRATEGY, OCBC, SINGAPORE: "Much depends on what Iran will do next, but the shock and awe of the US attack and the warning from Trump not to retaliate or suffer significant consequences, may prevent Iran's leaders from responding aggressively." "Investors should prepare for more volatility in the coming days, and possibly even weeks, given the ongoing Middle East crisis and uncertainty about Trump's tariff policy. However, these developments may not be the end of the global equity bull market as long it doesn't result in sharply higher inflation and cause a global recession. "There is scope for safe havens like gold to continue rising as global uncertainties are likely to remain a fixture, and global central banks continue to diversify away from their US dollar holdings towards gold. We see gold rising to US$3,900/ounce over a 12-month horizon."