Good morning, it’s Amy in Melbourne with your wrap of the biggest stories this Friday morning. 

Today’s must-reads (listens):
• The Bloomberg Australia podcast on rates 
• Rio Tinto begins search for new CEO 
• Goldman Sachs APAC changes  

What's happening now

The Reserve Bank of Australia this week cut rates again, while pulling off a post-Covid economic crisis soft landing that few central banks have been able to execute. This week on the Bloomberg Australia podcast, Rebecca Jones speaks to Bloomberg Economics’ James McIntyre about the outlook for interest rates, how that could be affected by Trump’s tariff war, and what it all means for the housing market. 

Meanwhile, the RBA’s Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser said the bank is ready to respond with policy in the event of a deepening global fallout from the Trump administration’s tariff regime. Hauser said forward indicators of activity in Australia “have not really moved at all” in response to the trade upheaval.

Andrew Hauser in Sydney. Photographer: Lisa Maree Williams/Bloomberg

There’s an Aussie in the mix to become Rio Tinto’s new CEO. The company is searching for a replacement for Jakob Stausholm, who will step down later this year. The likely internal frontrunners will be Simon Trott, an Australian who heads Rio’s cash cow iron ore business, Chief Commercial Officer Bold Baatar and the company’s aluminum boss, Jérôme Pécresse.

Goldman Sachs is making changes to its investment banking businesses across the Asia Pacific region. The US bank is integrating the teams in Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and Asia ex-Japan, to form a unified APAC investment banking business. 

What happened overnight

Now, to global markets. Wall Street struggled to regain confidence in the wake of a Treasury selloff. Stocks dropped in the last stretch of US trading. Bonds and the dollar rose. The S&P 500 finished lower for a third consecutive day — that’s the longest slide since April 8. 

The Trump Administration has barred Harvard University from enrolling international students, in a move that will compound the financial pressures for the institution. Trump’s criticism of Harvard, America’s oldest and richest university, has focused mainly on the administration’s alleged failure to adequately combat antisemitism. 

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said his firm is committed to long-term investments in China, despite tension between the governments of the world’s two biggest economies. Dimon was speaking on Bloomberg TV in Shanghai. 

And Apple plans to release smart glasses by the end of next year, but has abandoned plans to add cameras to its smartwatches. The glasses will have cameras, microphones, and speakers, and take requests via Siri. 

Apple shelved plans to add cameras to its smartwatches  Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

What to watch

• 11:00 a.m. — Australia to Sell A$800 Million 2.75% 2028 Bonds
• 12:10 p.m. — Bloomberg TV interviews JPMorgan Chief China Equity Strategist Wendy Liu

One more thing...

In the heart of Jiangxi, historically one of China’s poorest provinces, lithium is a lifeline. The surging popularity of electric vehicles has transformed a once threadbare area into the country’s lithium mining capital. But, as our Big Take explains, the incessant grind feeding the world’s leading battery industry masks the reality that very few of those operating here are making a profit. Have a great weekend. 

CATLs Jianxiaowo Lithium mine in Yichun.  Photographer: Gilles Sabrie/Bloomberg