Strong wage growth in Australia has intensified the inflation challenge for the Reserve Bank of Australia. The annual wage index rose 3.4% in the quarter ending in December, while public sector wages, up 4%, grew faster than those in the private sector. The labor market remains tight and unemployment is low at 4.1%, a factor that keeps price pressures elevated. Policymakers have not ruled out another rate hike in the coming months.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept the interest rate at 2.25%, the lowest level in about three and a half years, and said monetary policy will remain supportive for now. Anna Breman said the economy is still in the early stages of recovery and that premature tightening could weaken growth. Markets, which had expected faster tightening, were disappointed, the New Zealand dollar weakened and expectations for a near-term rate hike declined. The bank forecasts inflation will fall to around 2.3% by the end of 2026, with possibly only a limited increase later in the year.

Karine, the White House spokesperson, stated that only limited progress was made in the US-Iran negotiations. Axios also reported that the geo negotiations were hollow, and Trump moved closer to war; oil prices rose nearly 5 percent following the Axios report. She added that significant progress was made in yesterday’s Ukraine talks, and the next round of talks will be held in the future.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, said that the results of the latest round of talks with Russia are still insufficient. He said the discussions on military issues were “important and substantive,” but political matters require further work. Zelensky also called for the next round of talks to be held in February to achieve more progress.