Good morning everyone, it’s Ben here in blue-sky Melbourne, this is what’s making headlines today.

Today’s must-reads:
• Glencore’s Mount Isa lifeline
• Gold hits $4,000 an ounce
• The brutal legacy of the Gulf Livestock shipwreck

What's happening now

Glencore will get A$600 million combined from the Australian and Queensland governments to keep its Mount Isa copper smelter and associated refinery running for another three years. The support comes after a decade of aggressive Chinese expansion across the metals supply chain has driven intense competition, forcing numerous smelters to close. Still, bailouts may not be effective without other changes, according to Curtin University associate professor and specialist in metallurgical engineering Laurence Dyer.

A Melbourne University professor is among three scientists who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for creating molecular constructions with potential to help combat climate change. Richard Robson will share 11 million kronor ($1.2 million) with Susumu Kitagawa and Omar M. Yaghi for creating molecular constructions with large spaces through which gases and other chemicals can flow.

Japan’s Tokio Marine is seeking to boost its specialty insurance operations in Australia, either through bolt-on deals or larger transactions, as part of a $10 billion spend on acquisitions to boost its international business.

Australia and Singapore are in discussions to boost bilateral defense ties, including enhanced reciprocal access to naval and air bases, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Wednesday.

Lawrence Wong, left, and Anthony Albanese at Parliament House in Canberra. Photographer: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images AsiaPac

New Zealand’s central bank cut interest rates more aggressively than most forecasters expected and said it’s open to further reductions, underscoring mounting concerns about the economy in a move that sent the local currency to a six-month low. Meanwhile, the RBA swung to an accounting profit last financial year on lower bond yields and a depreciating currency.

Australia’s interest-rate gap with the US is set to turn positive in the coming months, potentially delivering a boost to the local dollar as domestic assets become more appealing, according to AMP Ltd.

What happened overnight

Here’s what my colleague, market strategist Mike “Willo” Wilson says happened while we were sleeping…

The S&P 500 Index trailed the tech heavy Nasdaq 100 Composite Index higher as dip buyers came through, driven by speculation the bull market has more to run despite elevated valuations. Gold topped $4,000 for the first time as investors saw little in the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes to scare away late money. The dollar headed toward the highest since July. The Aussie is little changed ahead of consumer inflation expectations, while the Kiwi pared RBNZ driven losses. New Zealand has a look at the government’s books before the results of a sovereign bond sale. ASX futures indicate a firm start for local equities.

More on gold: its ascent through $4,000 an ounce is yet another milestone in a three-year bull run that has defied die-hard skeptics and broken analytical models that have reliably predicted its rises and falls for decades.

A worker produces gold ingots at a non-ferrous metal company in Tongling, in China’s Anhui province. Photographer: Guo Shining/Getty Images

French President Emmanuel Macron said he’ll name a new prime minister by Friday evening, having for the time being avoided the need to call a snap election that would have deepened the political chaos in France.

China’s longest stock rally in years has done little to encourage households to shell out more money during a major holiday this month, a worry for an economy already entering a slowdown.

With funding expired, new appropriations bills stalled and progress on a stopgap nonexistent, Congress has for the 15th time since 1981 allowed the federal government to shut its doors. Don’t expect this round to be any more edifying than the others, writes Bloomberg’s Editorial Board. 

What to watch

• Consumer inflation expectations (11:00 a.m. Sydney)

One more thing...

Captain Dante Addug must have been uneasy thinking about the 48 hours to come. It was Aug. 30, 2020, and his ship, the Gulf Livestock 1, was steaming into the path of Maysak, a Category 4 typhoon that was hurtling up the Philippine Sea with 130-mph winds and 20-foot waves. Even the sturdiest cargo ship would take a beating in such conditions, but for the Gulf, Maysak almost certainly promised catastrophe. In the end, the sinking of the Gulf would prove the worst disaster in the history of the live-export trade.

Australian cattle loaded onto the Girolando Express at Darwin Port. Photographer: Claire Martin for Bloomberg Businessweek