US stock index futures have traded sideways, ‌though tech and AI-linked stocks ticked higher, as rising crude oil prices and steep bond yields kept risk appetite in check over the lack of ‌progress in US-Iran peace talks.

Tech stocks were in focus as Anthropic’s IPO prospectus, as seen by Reuters, showed how the AI lab has grown sharply in ‌the last year — while also posting wider losses.

Anthropic is targeting a valuation of more than $US2 trillion in a public offering, possibly establishing it as a benchmark for how Wall Street values AI’s leading companies.

Most chip-related companies inched higher in pre-market trading after a sector-wide selloff on Monday. Marvell Technology, Micron Technology and Broadcom all rose around one per cent each.

Nvidia inched 0.7 per cent higher, building on Monday’s gains when the world’s most valuable company boosted its share buyback authorisation by ‌a record $US150 billion.

The ‌AI theme remains crucial ⁠for Wall Street, and has powered the bulk of the market’s bull run that began back ​in October 2022.

Remarks from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during the company’s DevDay event later on Tuesday would also be on investors’ radar.

At 5:06 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 37 points, or 0.07 per cent and S&P 500 E-minis were down 2.75 points, or 0.04 per cent, while Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 18.75 points, or 0.06 per cent.

The S&P 500 clocked its biggest one-day percentage fall since late August on Monday as tech stocks came under pressure amid geopolitical uncertainty.

“The markets ⁠are waiting for a breakthrough, or at least clarity, regarding the war. That ‌would support sentiment. ​But it’s unlikely to arrive any time soon,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.

Oil prices rose for a second successive session. ​US President Donald Trump ‌said he has offered Iran nothing to end the war, rejecting media reports that cited US officials saying he was willing to ease ​sanctions and release frozen funds for “concrete” steps regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

Concerns over high energy prices fueling inflation and forcing central banks to raise interest rates have gripped global markets lately, dragging down equities and other risk assets.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond hovered ​near ​its highest level since 2007, highlighting market expectations for tighter ​monetary policy in the future.

Economic data has garnered more scrutiny lately ‌as the Federal Reserve has dialed back commentary on future policy moves under Chair Kevin Warsh.

Traders currently see a 70 per cent chance of another interest rate hike in October, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

A job openings reading for August is due later on Tuesday, the first of many economic data points scheduled to be released this week.

At least six Fed officials, including New York Fed President John Williams, are set to speak throughout the ​day on Tuesday.

Among other movers, Summit Therapeutics leaped 22.4 per cent. The biopharma firm said British drugmaker AstraZeneca would invest $2 billion in it and collaborate ​on a series of studies testing their ⁠cancer treatments together.

Snacks and soda giant PepsiCo dipped 0.7 per cent after JP Morgan downgraded the stock to “neutral” ​from “overweight”.

Cash-strapped borrowers are being warned of more hikes to come by the Reserve Bank of Australia after it lifted interest rates to a 15-year high.

In a unanimous decision, the central bank’s nine-member board lifted the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.6 per cent as it wrapped up its two-day meeting on Tuesday.

Inflation was too high and the board needed to lift interest rates to get it down, RBA governor Michele Bullock told reporters in Sydney.

The move was no surprise.

Financial markets and economists had been almost unanimous in predicting the RBA’s fourth rate hike since February.

But analysts were more split on whether the board would hike again or whether the cash rate would peak at 4.6 per cent – its highest level since October 2011.

Ms Bullock’s comments that the RBA would raise interest rates further “if that’s what’s needed to get inflation down” were seen as hawkish by economists.

Other remarks – that financial conditions were restrictive, that the impact of the previous three hikes were still filtering through the economy, and that the board still wanted to preserve gains in the labour market – leaned more dovish.

Notably, a hold was discussed by the board, but not a supersized 50-basis point hike.

“This posture reaffirms our expectation that rates will remain on hold until mid‑2027,” said Commonwealth Bank senior economist Ashwin Clarke.

But a November hike was still a live possibility, he said.

Paul Bloxham, chief Australia economist for HSBC, considered a Melbourne Cup day rate hike as his base case.

“As we see it, the RBA’s reaction function is shifting, with a greater focus now being placed on getting inflation back to target, and a lesser focus on the full employment objective,” he said.

A November hike would mean the monthly repayments needed to service an average new mortgage would be about $550 a month higher than at the start of 2026.

Traders think the RBA could have even more hikes in store, with money markets implying there’s still a fair chance of a sixth hike sometime in 2027.

But AMP chief economist Shane Oliver does not think another rate is coming in November or early next year.

By the time of the November meeting, there should be more signs that Australia’s economy was cooling, he said.

Falling house prices, a softer jobs market and rising recession risks should stay the RBA’s hand.

Ms Bullock said a recession was not the bank’s central forecast, but it might have to drive the economy into a downturn if inflation expectations got out of control.

“If that gets away, then that is a circumstance in which I think you might need to have quite a dramatic slowdown in the economy,” she said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed household spending growth was flat in August.

But consumers were still on a strong footing, with household spending up 6.8 per cent on an annual basis.

The decision follows recent rate rises by central banks in the US, Europe and Japan, but Australia remains a relative global outlier.

Out of the economies classified as advanced by the International Monetary Fund, only Iceland now has higher interest rates than Australia.

While the Middle East conflict and the global artificial intelligence investment boom were adding to Australia’s inflation problem, the underlying issue was excess demand in the domestic economy, Ms Bullock said.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers acknowledged the Middle East conflict wasn’t the only factor driving inflation, but he did say it was the main factor.

“Australians were already paying a very hefty price for decisions taken about this prolonged war in the Middle East, and today that price got a bit steeper,” he told reporters in Brisbane.

KPMG chief economist Brendan Rynne said a November rate hike was odds on, but whether interest rates went higher largely came down to the treasurer.

The Greens are being urged to allow rank-and-file members to decide who next leads the party to ensure greater electoral success.

Greens parliamentarians are jostling for position for the leadership after Queensland senator Larissa Waters announced she would quit the party’s top job because of a worsening kidney disease.

Members of the minor party are expected to choose a new leader during a regularly scheduled two-day policy meeting in Sydney starting on Wednesday.

South Australian senator Sarah Hanson-Young used a social media post to confirm she would seek the party leadership.

Deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi and Tasmanian senator Nick McKim also confirmed they would run on a ticket for the leadership.

“As the far-right gains strength, we think we are the right people to resist and to grow our movement alongside our colleagues, members and supporters,” the two senators posted on Instagram.

“Our politics are unapologetically bold and we want to lead with hope over hate and people over profit.”

AAP has been told senators David Shoebridge and Steph Hodgins-May may also seek a joint ticket.

Former Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather believes all party members, not just those in parliament, should decide the leadership.

Mr Chandler-Mather, who runs the Greens’ internal think tank after his election loss in 2025, said expanding the voting for leadership would ensure a more popular mandate.

“How we can build a movement that wins real, lasting and meaningful change? Opening the election of the next leader up to a full member vote is a crucial step in building that movement,” he said in an open letter.

“People become involved – en masse – because often for the first time in their lives they were given a real, meaningful say over the politics, strategy and policies of an institution that may actually have the power to change their lives for the better.”

The Greens lost three lower house seats, including former leader Adam Bandt’s long-held seat of Melbourne, at the 2025 election after a swing away from the party among inner-city voters.

Mr Chandler-Mather said a popular vote would go a long way to help recreate the success of democratic socialists such as New York mayor Zohran Mamdani or UK Greens leader Zack Polanski in Australia.

“Direct member election of the leader won’t achieve on its own. But I fundamentally believe it is a crucial step towards building the movement we need,” he said.

Former Greens senator Andrew Bartlett said the intense focus on the leadership missed the point and the party’s success was not tied to an individual.

“It’s not all about who is the fricking leader. It’s about your messaging,” he told AAP.

“David Shoebridge has had immense cut-through with a bunch of issues.

“Barbara Pocock has, Jordon Steele-John has. (It) doesn’t mean they need to be leader to do that … it’s about the team.”

However the internal vote lands, there is a strong sense of optimism among former party leaders for whoever takes the reins in coming days.

“(The Greens are) currently sitting on 14 per cent on the averaging of polls, which is unprecedented, and Larissa can be very proud of that,” inaugural Greens leader Bob Brown said.

Dr Brown would not put his support behind any one contender but said there are “three or four options” with the experience and ability to take on the major parties.

“The future is looking very bright.”

Mr Bandt said voters were looking for action.

“There is a growing sense, especially amongst younger people now, that the government is just not doing enough,” he said

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wished Senator Waters well and thanked her for constructive engagement during her tenure.

“I obviously have differences with the Greens political party, but this is a human issue. I can also have compassion and I have a good relationship with Larissa,” Mr Albanese told reporters.

Who’s responsible for making mortgages dearer will be the subject of a vicious political tussle over what’s triggering Australian inflation.

The RBA’s benchmark borrowing rate hit 4.6 per cent – its highest in nearly 15 years – in a decision by the Reserve Bank on Tuesday.

The fourth rate rise of 2026 means the average mortgage holder will now pay about $450 more a month than they did in February.

“This decision is difficult for households with a mortgage and businesses with loans, but high inflation hurts all Australians,” RBA governor Michele Bullock told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.

“It’s critical that we stop expectations for high inflation from becoming embedded in price-setting decisions across the economy, or the problem will only get worse.”

Trimmed mean inflation, the RBA’s preferred measure, is well above the bank’s 2-3 per cent target range at 3.6 per cent, with a new figure to be released on Wednesday.

Master spinners have pounced on the question of whether the Middle East conflict or domestic demand driven by government spending have a bigger impact on stoking inflation, and therefore which has greater sway over the central bank.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers agreed geopolitics was not solely culpable, but rejected the government had been spendthrift.

“The re-escalation of the war … that has turbocharged an existing inflation challenge that we have in our economy,” he told reporters in Brisbane shortly after the RBA’s announcement.

“We’ve put so much time and effort into repairing the budget that we inherited, I delivered … the first two surpluses for a decade and a half, and then we got the subsequent deficits down much, much smaller.”

Government spending as a proportion of GDP climbed to 26.9 per cent in 2025/26, the highest in four decades save for the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There’s international effects, but … it doesn’t explain the interest rate rise on February 3 of this year before a single bomb had been dropped on Tehran,” shadow treasurer Tim Wilson said on Tuesday.

“Until (the government) is prepared to pull its belt in, not just turn around to the Australian community and tell them to pull their belt in, we’re not going to see a change.”

For her part, the RBA governor signalled the US war with Iran was intensifying other underlying inflation drivers in the economy.

“This isn’t all about the Middle East conflict,” Ms Bullock said.

“It is making things much worse, but we did start from a position of excess demand anyway, and that’s why we started raising interest rates even before the conflict started.”

Ms Bullock also deplored Australia’s lacklustre productivity, which is not within the Reserve Bank’s remit, but whose annual growth rate has sagged more than half since 2014/15 to 0.8 per cent.

“Productivity is doing nothing,” she said.

“Governments could be looking at regulations … grease the wheels, but it’s also incumbent upon businesses to take opportunities.”

Australia is being urged to act after a Melbourne activist and two others were jailed by Vietnamese authorities on terror charges.

Democracy campaigner Tran Hiep was due to meet his wife, Chloe Dang, in Bangkok after travelling to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to meet with human rights defenders.

But the 50-year-old Melbourne man never boarded his flight and has not been heard from since September 18.

Vietnamese authorities confirmed late on Monday that Mr Hiep, also known as Ho Pham Hiep Huy, had been arrested along with Vietnamese-Norwegian human rights activist Nguyen Duc Thuan and Thai Cong Truong Son.

“I really worry about how he will be treated in the prison,” Ms Dang told AAP on Tuesday, hours after landing in Melbourne from Bangkok.

“I really hope our government can help to get access to him as soon as possible.”

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security said the trio were detained on September 18 while allegedly attempting to cross illegally from Cambodia into Vietnam.

It said they admitted being members of Viet Tan, a pro-democracy diaspora political party founded by Vietnamese dissidents.

Viet Tan is a proscribed terrorist organisation under Vietnam’s communist government.

The activists are accused of entering the country to conduct “terrorist and sabotage activities” as well as forging seals and documents.

Mr Hiep was carrying an Australian passport, according to the ministry.

He founded the Australian Alliance to Combat Human Trafficking and was travelling to meet with other Vietnamese activists in Cambodia, according to Viet Tan.

Viet Tan has condemned Vietnamese authorities for the arrests of Mr Hiep and Mr Thuan, and denies claims the two men illegally entered Vietnam from the Cambodian border.

The group claims the pair had no intention of entering Vietnam.

They accuse Vietnamese authorities of abducting the pair on trumped-up charges to cover up an act of “transnational repression”.

Viet Tan’s representative in Sydney, Phong Nguyen, said the arrests were a chilling deterrent to other members travelling to Southeast Asia, even for tourism reasons.

“We condemn this and it is unacceptable,” he told AAP on Tuesday.

“The Vietnamese government has now one of the most severe records of repressing activists outside the borders of Vietnam.”

Ms Dang called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to bring Mr Hiep home because of Vietnam’s abuse of political prisoners.

“Please do and try anything to get him home safely to us – that’s my wish right now,” she said.

“My emotions are all over the place. My body is shaking, my heart is jumping and I now know he’s in prison in Vietnam, but it worries me more because we don’t know where he is exactly.”

Vietnam has ramped up its crackdown on dissidents in recent years, with more than 55 activists arrested under broad criminal laws in 2025.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s office said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was making urgent inquiries with Vietnamese authorities to confirm “an Australian citizen has been detained.”

Mr Albanese said the government was providing consular assistance and engaging with Mr Hiep’s family.

“That’s what Australian governments do for our citizens,” he told reporters.

Sydney man Chau Van Kham, also a member of Viet Tan, was detained in 2019 in Vietnam and returned to Australia in 2023 after lobbying by the Albanese government.

With Reuters

Built in a factory yard in the heart of Adelaide’s industrial suburbs, prefabricated homes are filling a niche for rural communities. 

“Their timeline for construction and delivery is relatively short and their easy ability to provide that accommodation, whether it be emergency, short term or long term, is very important for us,” Flinders Ranges Mayor Ken Anderson told AAP.

Mr Anderson’s council is one of more than 60 in South Australia looking at modular homes to house the next generation of nurses, teachers and police into their communities.

A $3.35 million trial is underway by Renewal SA’s Office for Regional Housing aimed to stimulate an industry already gaining popularity around the world.

For the midnorth town of Quorn, where construction backlogs have drawn out to years due to workforce gaps and increased building costs, trucking a pre-fabricated home across the Augusta Highway could save years and thousands of dollars.

Two and three bedroom homes are currently on display in Adelaide, with destinations set for councils along the Yorke Peninsula and Flinders Ranges.

Acting SA Housing Minister Michael Brown said his government believed modular homes could contribute to its set target of delivering 13,500 homes annually, specifically in the regions.

Master Builders SA CEO Will Frogley said traditional homes would never be replaced.

However, he was not surprised by the scale of interest in modular homes given the serious labour shortages in the construction industry.

Master Builders Workforce Blueprint showed 141,000 vacancies in the building construction industry nationally, with 4000 currently in SA.

Building costs have also surged 30 per cent in areas such as tiling in the past five years, according to Cotality’s Cordell Construction Cost Index.

“We’ve been the canary down the coal mine in terms of the inflation challengers that are affecting the whole country,” Mr Frogley told AAP.

As construction slowed in the regions, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and SA Premier Peter Malinauskas on Tuesday backed a plan to divest 12.81 hectares of land outside Adelaide for new housing and community facilities. 

“What you’re seeing is inflationary pressures being a global phenomenon, which is why you’ve seen interest rate increases, including just in the last fortnight in the United States and in other advanced economies,” Mr Albanese said.

It came after the RBA lifted the cash rate to 4.6 per cent, meaning the average owner-occupier variable rate would rise to 6.49 per cent, according to financial comparison site Canstar.

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said combining the recent rate hike with logistical costs within the industry was eroding the financial viability of many prospective home-building projects.

”Australia is sleepwalking into a severe building and construction downturn at precisely the time we need to be building more,” she said.

House prices are now likely to fall further and for longer than they have in previous property market downturns, according to economists. 

The forebodings came shortly after the cash rate was increased to 4.6 per cent – its highest level in nearly 15 years – in an unsurprising decision by the Reserve Bank on Tuesday.   

It’s the fourth rate rise this year, pulling monthly interest repayments for the national average mortgage up more than $450 since the start of 2026.

More hikes could be on the way, the RBA said.

Home buyers also now have $90,000 less borrowing capacity compared to February, according to housing data firm Cotality.

While mortgage holders have had to contend with higher interest rates in the past, this time it’s different, the firm’s head researcher Tim Lawless told AAP.

The combination of tighter wallets, cost of living and tax tweaks were likely to bring the length and depth of the housing downturn closer to uncharted territory, he said.

“Household indebtedness is much more significant now than it was back in 2011, so households feel the pain of interest rate hikes much more acutely,” he said.

When interest rates last hit this level in 2011, the average home-owner spent slightly more than one third of their income on servicing their mortgage – now it’s more than half.

“It just really adds a bit more fuel to this downturn,” Mr Lawless said. 

National dwelling values have already dipped 3.1 per cent in the three months to the end of August, Cotality has found.

The May budget’s removal of tax concessions for investors also added to the downturn, but Mr Lawless said successive rate hikes were helping spread price falls further down the property ladder. 

“As interest rates progressively rise, we will see the downturn becoming much more broad-based,” Mr Lawless said. 

Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock signalled lower house prices were a way of interest rates working “through the system” to keep a lid on inflation.

“That sort of affects people’s wealth, it affects how they feel, it might affect the share market again … so that can affect consumption,” she told reporters at her post-decision press conference in Sydney.

But higher interest rates also made housing construction more expensive and less viable, impacting the flow of new homes.

“Even if (housing) affordability is improving now … longer term it’s likely to lead to more expensive housing,” Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee told AAP.

“The cost of (builders’) materials is going to continue to increase rapidly, fuel is going to increase rapidly, then they start to price that into quotes.”

A young constable killed in a horror crash and two officers shot dead by a now-infamous fugitive have been remembered on a day of police mourning.

Mia Lay, 20, was honoured on National Police Remembrance Day alongside two Victorian colleagues more than a year after they were killed by Dezi Freeman at a rural property.

Constable Lay had been on the force for 16 months before her death, crashing in pursuit of a stolen car at Redfern in Sydney on Friday.

Attendees talked of her youth and dedication at a solemn service in front of the Police Wall of Remembrance in Sydney’s Domain on Tuesday morning.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said Const Lay was “talented, optimistic, calm under pressure” and a stellar athlete who could have done anything but chose to serve. 

The 20-year-old’s death followed her graduation from the police academy at 19 and school the year before that, he noted.

“It’s a reminder that we ask our police officers to grow up incredibly quickly,” Mr Minns said.

“When their mates from school are going to uni or taking a gap year or getting a start on an apprenticeship, the men and women of the police force are already on the job, walking into danger well beyond their years.”

Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon thanked Const Lay and loved ones for her service, saying they would always be a part of the blue family.

Mr Lanyon said the polished granite memorial wall told tales of courage through each of the 286 inscribed names.

In 2027, Const Lay’s name will be formally added to the National Police Memorial in Canberra, where 832 touchstones engraved on the memorial wall represent police lives lost since records began in 1803.

Police added four new touchstones to the monument on Tuesday, including plaques for Victoria Police officers Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart-Hottart.

The pair were killed in Porepunkah in August 2025 while serving an arrest warrant.

Victoria Police deputy commissioner Bob Hill noted the service had marked more than a year since their deaths during a mission to search alleged pedophile Freeman’s property.

“Thankfully, since that event, we have not lost any more members in the line of duty,” Mr Hill said.

“Every day, our officers deploy knowing full well that they may be required to place themselves in harm’s way to protect the broader community.” 

Their names are also engraved on the honour wall at the Victorian Police Memorial, alongside 176 other fallen Victorian officers.

Fallen officers Maxine Bembridge and Mark Bransgrove will also be enshrined with touchstones on the national wall in Canberra.

Western Australia Detective Senior Sergeant Bembridge died in hospital days after a crash while she was driving to work on the outskirts of Perth in May.

Sergeant Bransgrove, who served NSW Police across almost four decades, died in July 2025 from a medical condition as a result of his duties, eight years after retiring.

Displays across the nation included a march to Melbourne’s police memorial.

Canberra’s National Police Memorial held its 20th national service including a procession of hundreds of officers over the Kings Avenue Bridge.

President Donald Trump has announced a new $15 billion steel plant will be built in Iowa, claiming an economic victory in a key battleground state where Republicans face competitive midterm elections.

Trump announced the new plant at an Oval Office event alongside steel executives and Iowa Republicans, including two running for office. 

The event highlighted Iowa’s elevated status for Republicans and for Trump, who on Monday pledged to campaign there in coming weeks.

The new steel plant is being built by Mesabi Metallics, a Minnesota company owned by India’s Essar Group, an industrial conglomerate.

Trump said the project will become the largest steel plant in the United States. It is expected to produce 10 million tons of steel a year once fully built out.

The plant was projected to begin production in 2030, supplied by a new $2.5 billion iron ore mine that Mesabi developed along Minnesota’s Mesabi iron range. 

Trump said the American steel industry was “roaring back to life,” crediting it to the 50 per cent tariffs on steel imports that he imposed last year.

“Everyone is building their plants here because they don’t want to pay tariffs,” Trump said. “It’s really not that complicated.”

Trump in June also approved the takeover of iconic American steelmaker US Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel, a move that had been blocked by Joe Biden, his Democratic predecessor, and initially opposed by Trump as a 2024 Republican presidential candidate. 

After returning to office, Trump later backed a deal that gave the federal government a say in some company decisions.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance have both touched down in Iowa this year to shore up Republican enthusiasm and energise voters before the November 3 elections.

Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of Iowa’s Republican Party, said the announcement was made possible by the state’s Republican leadership.

“Investments of this magnitude do not come to Iowa by accident,” he said. 

“They come to states with low taxes, responsible budgets, fewer burdensome regulations, and leaders who understand that the role of the government is to help job creators succeed, not stand in their way.”

Joe Broking, chief executive of Mesabi Metallics, called the announcement a “major moment for US made steel,” saying the factory would be supplying a critical product that US national defence, cars and trucks, shipbuilding, household appliances, energy and infrastructure depend on.

Mesabi Metallics is based in Nashwauk, Minnesota. The Essar Group is an industrial conglomerate formed in India in 1969, with ventures in industries from energy and mining to technology and retail, according to its website.

An Australian drone parts maker will more than double its interim earnings after unprecedented demand for its technology due to ongoing geopolitical conflicts.

South Australian based Codan is forecasting a first-half profit of at least $160 million, up from $71.2 million in the same period in 2024/25 and close to its last annual profit of $175.2 million.

“Demand from conflict regions is currently exceptionally strong, reflecting the proven performance and reliability of our technology in these contested environments,” it said on Tuesday.

Codon’s shares spiked after the news and closed at an all time high of $64.02, up 23 per cent.

It didn’t say where the orders are coming from, but the Russia-Ukraine conflict has escalated into a round-the-clock drone war, with Russia pounding its enemy’s civilian infrastructure with new jet-powered drones and Ukraine retaliating with long-range drone strikes deep within Russian territory.

Between $400 million and $410 million of Codan’s its interim revenue will flow from its communications division, up from $221.8 million a year ago, the electronics and engineering pioneer said.

Codan’s communications division comprises Domo Tactical Communications and Zetron, both of which were acquired in 2021. 

DTC’s microwave technology allows drones or tactical teams to send secure, high-definition video feeds back to a command centre in real time, while Zetron sells communications infrastructure for command and control rooms.

Trading and order intake in both businesses continued to strengthen in the first quarter of 2026/27 and products are being sold at a profit margin of 40 per cent, up from 31 per cent last year.

Codan’s Minelab metal detector business has also been performing strongly, driven by the high price of gold and a favourable launch for its two new detectors – one of which sells for around $15,000.