Rio's iron ore rebound, Trump won't sack Fed chair

Good morning everyone, Ben Westcott here in a brisk Melbourne, here's what's making news today.Today's must-reads:• Rio Tinto's iron ore shi

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Good morning everyone, Ben Westcott here in a brisk Melbourne, here's what's making news today. Today's must-reads: • Rio Tinto's iron ore shipments recover • Australia's online payment boom sparks cash crisis • Trump says he won't fire Federal Reserve chair

What's happening now

Rio Tinto's second-quarter iron ore shipments largely recovered from cyclone impacts earlier in the year, jumping 13% from the first quarter. It comes as the iron ore price topped $100 a ton for the first time since May, as sentiment improved around Chinese economic growth. At the same time, Rio warned that US tariffs on its Canada-made aluminum had generated gross costs of more than $300 million in the first half, in another sign of how President Donald Trump's trade agenda is shaking up metals supply chains. An employee covers a stack of aluminum billets with plastic at a Rio Tinto facility in Canada. Photographer: Christinne Muschi/Bloomberg Australian regulators will look into a potential framework for the distribution of physical money across the country as increasing use of online and card payments add to complexities of keeping cash in circulation. Members of the Quad, including Australia, Japan, India and the US, are looking at securing and expanding underwater communication cables amid a rising threat of sabotage and cyber attacks.

What happened overnight

Here's what my colleague, market strategist Mike "Willo" Wilson says happened while we were sleeping… The dollar curbed its losses after President Trump denied he is seeking to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Markets were earlier roiled after a White House official said they expected the president to soon move against him. US stocks ended higher following the denial, however Treasuries extended gains with the drama still percolating. A higher jobless rate in Thursday's Australian employment data will help nail down an August cut and perhaps a similar move in September. It will also erase overnight gains posted by the Aussie dollar. ASX futures point to a solid opening higher for local equities. Trump said he had raised the idea of removing Powell in a closed-door meeting with congressional Republicans that leaked to the media. However, he told reporters on Wednesday that he was "not planning on doing anything," before adding, "I don't rule out anything, but I think it's highly unlikely, unless he has to leave for fraud." US President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with Jerome Powell during a press event in 2017. Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images North America In other White House news, the US president has dialed down his confrontational tone with China in an effort to secure a summit with counterpart Xi Jinping and a trade deal with the world's second-largest economy, people familiar with internal deliberations said. Electric vehicle giant Tesla is preparing to launch a longer, six-seat version of its Model Y sport utility vehicle in China, where the carmaker has been losing ground to domestic manufacturers with fresher lineups. The monster that President Trump helped to create is now turning on him, and, try as he might, he can't tame it, writes Bloomberg Opinion's Nia-Malika Henderson.

What to watch

All times Sydney: • Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visits Chinese city of Chengdu • 11.30 a.m. — Australia's June unemployment rate released

One more thing...

Every morning, hundreds of tourists making the trek up to Peru's Rainbow Mountain must pass by a cross that marks the site of a violent killing. Last year, that's where a local man — Flavio Illatinco, who was perhaps the biggest champion of the tourist destination — was ambushed, kidnapped and stoned to death, allegedly by a mob of his own neighbors. And it's the reason why some in the local Indigenous community now see the world-famous destination as a curse. Peru's Rainbow Mountain. Photographer: Alessandro Cinque

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