1. Putin in the dark over Ukraine war, US intelligence suggests
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been misinformed by advisers about his military’s performance in Ukraine and the effect of sanctions on his country’s economy, a White House spokeswoman said, citing unspecified US intelligence.

“We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military which has resulted in persistent tension between Putin and his military leadership,” White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said in a briefing Wednesday. “We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the Russian military is performing, and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions because his senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth.”

2. Doubts over peace pull markets down
Global stock markets rose strongly yesterday on positive peace talk news between Russia and Ukraine, but stocks are down overnight as doubts rise over an agreement. And our local stock market joined the peace party positivity, rising strongly yesterday as Russia implied troops were pulling back from Kyiv and other cities. But overnight, a White House spokesperson said the troop movements didn’t look like a retreat. Stock market players didn’t like the news. The European stock market index, the STOXX 600, lost nearly 2% overnight.

However, ASX futures were up 10 points or 0.1% to 7494 near 7am AEDT, with the AUD +0.1% to 75.13 US cents. On Wall St: Dow -0.2% S&P 500 -0.6% Nasdaq -1.2%. 2-year yield: US -0.06% (2.30%) Australia -0.10% (1.78%). 10-year yield: US -0.05% (2.34%) Australia -0.10% (2.79%).

3. Labor could keep cut in fuel tax going
The Government won’t extend the six-month period for the 22 cents cut in the fuel tax excise after the election, but Labor, if elected, might. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the $3.6 billion slug to the Budget from the reduction in the petrol price by 22 cents a litre will end in six months’ time. And if peace is restored in Ukraine, the oil price will fall as well, so motorists could see a double drop in the petrol price. But Labor’s Treasurer-in-waiting, Jim Chalmers, has implied he’d wait to see what the economy looked like in September before making a decision on the fuel tax cut.

4. Bruce Willis to retire from acting due to illnesss
Bruce Willis, the actor best known for his work in the Die Hard series, is to retire from the industry after being diagnosed with aphasia, a language disorder that affects his ability to communicate.

A joint statement was posted on his family’s social media accounts, explaining that Willis had been “experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities. “As a result of this and with much consideration, Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.”

5. New boss at Telstra
One of the country’s biggest companies, Telstra, has a new boss, Vicky Brady, who insists she won’t need to be a desk-banging boss to succeed. Ms Brady takes over Telstra as a $46 billion operation, which is our 11^th biggest listed company, whose share price is up nearly 15% in the past year, but over five years it’s down 16%. Ms Brady replaces Andy Penn. This means Macquarie Group, oil miner Woodside and Telstra (three of our largest businesses) are now run by women and we’ll see a lot more of this trend in coming years.