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(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s economic growth remained sluggish last quarter as a surge in government spending underpinned the expansion, highlighting the Reserve Bank’s policy challenge as inflation is still stubbornly sticky.Most Read from BloombergAs Wars Rage, Cities Face a Dark New Era of Urban DestructionRiyadh Metro Partially Opens in Bid to Ease City’s Traffic JamsGross domestic product rose 0.8% from a year earlier, the weakest reading — excluding the pandemic — since December 1991, when t

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices rose more than 2% on Tuesday as Israel threatened to attack the Lebanese state if its truce with Hezbollah collapses, and as investors positioned for OPEC+ to announce an extension of supply cuts this week. Brent crude futures posted their biggest gains in two weeks, rising by $1.79, or 2.5%, to settle at $73.62 a barrel. Israeli forces have continued strikes against what they say are Hezbollah fighters ignoring last week's truce agreement in Lebanon.

The founder and former CEO of the failed cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network could face decades in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to federal fraud charges, admitting that he misled customers about the business. Alexander Mashinsky, 58, of Manhattan, entered the plea in New York federal court to commodities and securities fraud. In court, he admitted that in 2021 he publicly suggested there was regulatory consent for the company's moves because he knew that customers “would find false comfort” with that.

Both Bitcoin and Ethereum have undergone serious changes in the last 18 months, with both unlocking the rejuvenating potential of Layer-2 development. The next step for Bitcoin is consolidation. Smaller L2 projects will realize that in order to succeed, they will need to merge into one another. The winning solutions will ultimately be decided by TradFi, which will integrate the best tools, remove UI complexity, and guide mass adoption.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The S&P 500 and Nasdaq eked out record closing highs on Tuesday, with tech-related shares extending recent gains as investors awaited further jobs data. The Dow finished slightly lower on the day. Among S&P 500 sectors, technology, communication services and consumer discretionary were the only gainers, extending their advance on Monday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A surprise declaration of martial law in Korea that had sent the won plummeting and gave U.S. Treasuries a brief safe-haven boost was lifted on Tuesday, removing one source of geopolitical jitters for world markets to contend with. The move gave a modest boost to U.S. stocks, which were otherwise muted and range-bound for much of the session. "These developments, combined with those in France and the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, all are creating uncertainty as investors think about how to position themselves moving into 2025," said Greg Bassuk, CEO at AXS Investments in New York.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 76 points, or 0.2%, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.4% to its own record set a day earlier. On the losing end of Wall Street was U.S. Steel, which fell 8%. President-elect Donald Trump reiterated on social media that he would not let Japan’s Nippon Steel take over the iconic Pennsylvania steelmaker.