But still afraid. Westpac. • Westpac Consumer Sentiment Index up 4% to 95.9 in March. • Slowing inflation and rate cut lift confidence to three-year high. • Unsettling overseas news looks to be weighing on the outlook for the economy. • Sentiment towards major purchases showing a promising improvement. • Consumers’ own finances stabilising and
Last month, Australian journalist Matt Bell published the following article on the nation’s purported “skills crisis.” This was based on a report from recruitment firm Hays, which found that 85% of hiring managers grappled with “skills gaps” that continue to worsen despite a softer market and historically strong immigration. However, as shown recently by Greg
What is the worst idea you can think of for Australia’s failed East Coast gas market? How about government’s underwriting LNG imports that will raise your bills 80%? You got it! The Australian. A Victorian government-led proposal to underwrite LNG imports could hike domestic gas prices and introduce a fresh risk of political intervention in
The Market Ear on the roaring bear. Equity vs bond panic VIX has left bond volatility behind. Source: Refinitiv Not all “panic” is equal VIX continues surging, but skew continues to do very little. A notable volatility “anomaly”. Source: Refinitiv Term structure panic VIX term structure exploding even higher, with the short end of the
It’s risk off across stock markets as Trump goes all Lord Farquaad aka Paul Keating admitting a US recession is all but coming due to his tariffs taunts with Wall Street falling more than 2% across the board with the NASDAQ falling 4% in one session! So much winning! European stocks are feeling the heat
DXY held on as safe haven flows pick up despite the new super EUR. AUD crashed against everything. Lead boots stable Oil needs to be in the $50s. Commods are far too high for a US recession. Miners = dogs. EM likewsie. Junk is serene. Maybe it needs to break to flush this bearish impulse.
In January, Domain published the following chart showing how the proportion of income a median household needed to pay the median rent hit a record high 33% in Q3 2024. REA Group has released its Q4 Rental Affordability Report, which found that rental affordability is at its worst level on record, driven by surging rents
AUD/USD EUR/USD USD/JPY GBP/USD Gold WTI Brent Australia 200 US S&P 500 UK 100 Japan 225
The post Macro Afternoon: 10 March 2025 appeared first on MacroBusiness.
In the 2010 federal election, the incumbent Australian Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, won a second term after forming a minority government with three independent MPs. A result similar to the 2010 federal election looks like the most likely outcome of the upcoming federal election. The latest Newspoll for The Australian shows
Labor greybeard, Bill Kelty, has delivered the government, especially Treasurer Jim “chicken” Chalmers, a stinging slap across the face. Former trade union leader and economic trailblazer Kelty, whose work with the Hawke and Keating Labor governments helped usher in two decades of prosperity, described the reality of many Australians’ declining living standards as “political kryptonite”