Defence spend risks tariffs; Nvidia nears $6 trillion; job vacancies rise
Published: June 26, 2025
Defence spend risks tariffs; Nvidia nears $6 trillion; job vacancies rise
News in brief
There is quite a twist in the battle for PointsBet, which Japanese group Mixi seemed to have won on Wednesday after a shareholder vote. Yesterday morning, PointsBet said the shareholding votes of its other suitor, Betr, were “incorrectly” excluded from the scheme meeting. It's back to the drawing board.
Stan will stream the next season of the English Premier League, starting in August, under a complex agreement that ultimately means Optus subsidises a large chunk of the broadcast rights.
BP shares jumped as much as 10 per cent after The Wall Street Journal reported that Royal Dutch Shell is in early-stage talks to acquire its London-based rival. Discussions between company representatives are active, but a deal is far from certain.
Nvidia, the world’s premier chip maker, has reset its record high and is now worth $US3.77 trillion – or about $5.8 trillion. It is once again the biggest company on Wall Street, ahead of Microsoft with a market cap of $US3.667 trillion, and Apple at $US3 trillion.
Fear-o-meter
Diplomacy with Donald Trump is always a negotiation. Australia is determined to not significantly increase defence spending over the next decade, or at least not to the White House’s recommended level of 3.5 per cent of GDP.
The risk is a strong rebuke from Donald Trump and no deal on tariffs.
On the sidelines of the NATO conference in The Hague, most European countries agreed to increase defence spending targets to five per cent of GDP. However, Spain refused, prompting Trump to threaten to punish the nation with a tougher trade deal. That doesn't bode well for Australia.
Canberra is seeking to negotiate a reprieve from tariffs imposed by the US on imports. While a general 10 per cent tariff is unlikely to change, the government is hoping to negotiate down 50 per cent levies on steel and aluminium. That’s unlikely without any move on defence spending.
Who's talking today?
On the changing expectations of the office, as companies evolve the workplace to entice teams back to their desks:
"When you talk to younger people... the expectations continue to grow. I think some of the fundamentals are still there for me. An office needs to be a safe environment, not only physically safe, but I think emotionally safe and people feel like they've got the opportunity to turn up and be their authentic selves.
I think people are looking for an office that they can thrive in... I think people also want to be in an office where they're part of something bigger. There's a sense of purpose.
But I think also when people have this choice of... do I need to go to the office or can I do that from home? The expectations of the office has grown and people are looking for an environment now where they can find the balance between working at a desk on their own, finding the appropriate size meeting room to have the appropriate meeting, but also space where people and teams can collaborate, socialise, brainstorm."
It's Friday the 27th of June, 2025. Australia won’t change defence spending targets, despite European nations vowing to rapidly increase expenditure under pressure from US President Donald Trump. Australia's decision could make any negotiation for lower tariffs much tougher. Spain also refused to increase defence spending, and the President said he'd "make them pay twice as much" in their trade deal.
Greed-o-meter
| Country | Interest rate |
Last move |
|---|---|---|
| 🇮🇳 India | 5.50% | –50bp Jun 2025 |
| 🇺🇸 United States |
4.25%– |
–25bp Dec 2024 |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 4.25% | –25bp May 2025 |
| 🇳🇴 Norway | 4.25% | –25bp Jun 2025 |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 3.85% | –25bp May 2025 |
| 🇳🇿 New Zealand | 3.25% | –25bp May 2025 |
| 🇨🇦 Canada | 2.75% | –25bp Mar 2025 |
| 🇪🇺 Eurozone | 2.15% | –25bp Jun 2025 |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | 0.50% | +25bp Jan 2025 |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 0.00% | –25bp Jun 2025 |
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