Volatility was relatively low on risk markets overnight as traders await the real April Fool’s Day as the Trump Regime’s “Worldwide Shoot Ourselves in the Feet” tariff deadline draws near. Wall Street filled some short positions and rebounded alongside European stocks but it was relatively modest while the USD held against Euro, Yen and Pound
DXY is holding on as Liberation Day passes. AUD firmed. Lead boots are heavier. Oil and gold stalled. Base metals are pointing at a hard landing. Big miners, big bears, plod on. EM meh. Junk funk not funky enough. But bonds bid. Aiding stocks, which rose moderately. US JOLTS were Goldilocks without showing much harm
Regardless of which party wins the upcoming federal election, a match will be lit under Australian house prices. Labor Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced in February that Australia’s financial regulators will be required to loosen home lending rules for millions of Australians with student loans. The changes will mean that a borrower’s student debts will be
Asian stock markets are doing somewhat better in response to the late rebound on Wall Street overnight but a big air of caution remains as the new month gets underway and the world awaits the onslaught of the new tariffs from the Trump regime tomorrow on April 2nd. The USD is pushing back against most
As was widely expected, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) chose to keep the official cash rate on hold at 4.10% at Tuesday’s monetary policy meeting. However, the decision could be considered a dovish hold and suggests that the RBA has laid the groundwork for a rate cut at the next meeting in mid-May, pending
Electric vehicles have been heavily subsidised in Australia. A recent analysis by the Institute of Public Accountants estimated that the federal budget has lost approximately $564 million annually in tax revenue due to the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) exemption for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). More than 100,000 novated leases for
The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) launched a campaign on Monday, calling on Labor and the Coalition to lower the company tax rate from 25% to 20% for the 2.6 million businesses with an annual turnover of less than $20 million. Research undertaken by Insightfully for COSBOA found that 69% of voters support
Not that he didn’t hit it earlier, but he is still giving it a pounding. Albert Edwards of Société Générale. The equity market is at a critical level. So too is the wealthier US consumer! Before we kick off, I wanted to highlight what was, from my perspective, the most surprising quote of the week.
Chinese PMIs are meh. Manufacturing is barely growing. Services likewise. All those government bonds are doing something, but it isn’t much. Why? Bloomberg. The property crisis that hobbled China’s economy and created a nearly $160 billion pile of distressed debt — the world’s largest — is getting worse. Signs of trouble are now popping
Via ABS. The February 2025 seasonally adjusted estimate: Rose 0.2% month-on-month. Rose 3.6% compared with February 2024. Is that a trend reversal developing from weak improvement to failing improvement? Barely running at the pace of inflation and adjusted for population growth going backwards in February.