Westpac with the note. The six-month annualised growth rate in the Westpac Melbourne Institute Leading Index, which indicates the likely pace of economic activity relative to trend three to nine months into the future, slowed to 0.2% in April from 0.5% in March. The above-trend growth pulse that emerged at the start of the year
DXY down. AUD down too. Leads boots again. Oli and gold up. Metals undecided. Miners EM stuck. High yield. Yields stable. Stocks stall. Credit Agricole. Higher long-term Treasury yields and tighter swap spreads have come following Moody’s Ratings downgrade. Moody’s downgraded the US to Aa1 from Aaa and changed the outlookto stable from negative on
I explained last week why Australia’s energy costs will inevitably soar as the nation replaces traditional baseload generation with renewables in pursuit of Labor’s 82% renewable energy target. The reasons for the high cost of renewable energy are straightforward. They depend on the weather; therefore, they are intermittent and have low load factors. Renewables need
Although the macro newsflow was relatively light on overnight it was all about the bond and currency markets as the latest Canadian inflation numbers following yesterday’s cut by the RBA led to further introspection on the trajectory of the ECB, which has led to the USD being pushed back across the board. US sovereign debt
The media release accompanying the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) 0.25% cut to the official cash rate (OCR) on Tuesday was a fairly vanilla affair that took a neutral stance. The release noted that risks to inflation have become “more balanced”, that policy is now “somewhat less restrictive”. The RBA also remained “cautious about the
Last year, former federal Treasury official Stephen Anthony warned that Victoria may need a federal “bailout” due to increasing state debt, which reached $27,729 per person in 2023-24. “Victoria is on a suicide mission to record borrowing, just as global interest rates are about to hit 5%”, Anthony warned. “Potholes can’t get filled, emergency departments
Australian Industry Group’s analysis of data from the Productivity Commission underlines the downturn in the nation’s housing sector. The Ai Group’s report shows that while labour productivity across the economy has increased by 24% over the last decade, this metric has fallen by 14% in relation to overall housing construction over the same period, and
Risk markets in Asia are somewhat mixed in reaction to the flat sessions on Wall Street overnight with the Friday night cut by ratings agency Moody on US debt still reveberating, particularly within bond markets. The Trump regime is still failing to make deals with Japan which is seeing further strength in Yen while today’s
As widely expected by financial markets and economists, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) lowered the official cash rate (OCR) by 0.25% to 3.85%. In coming to its decision, the statement noted that “inflation continues to moderate”, with “annual trimmed mean inflation (2.9%) was below 3% for the first time since 2021 and headline inflation
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has not ruled out extending the federal government’s $6.8 billion energy rebates again. It was originally meant to expire in mid-2025, but has been extended for another six months. “From budget to budget, we see if we can do more”, Chalmers has said. Some members of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Economic Inclusion