Checking elsewhere in the region now. And Japan’s Nikkei and the Hang Seng are both making gains. And the Australian dollar is lower. It’s currently buying 92.7 US cents. 

   

The RBA has again indicated rates are going nowhere for quite some time. The minutes from the RBA board meeting in May indicate it was a short one with little deliberation over whether to keep the cash rate at its record low of 2.5 per cent. The minutes know some signs of improvement in employment, business and consumer sentiment and that inflation remains under control. But none of this is enough to change the bank’s expectation that economy will only grow at a slightly below average pace this year. 

   

And Australia’s biggest listed wine company has rejected a 3-billion-dollar takeover offer from a private equity firm. Treasury wine estate says that receive the four dollars 70 per share bid from Kolbergh Chravis Roberts last month. The owner of win brands including Penfolds and Yellow Glen says the offer doesn’t its potential for improvement. Treasury has also announced that jobs will be slashed as part of a cost cutting program.