Westpac predicts that New Zealand CPI inflation will rise by 0.8% in the March quarter. That would see the annual inflation rate drop to 4.2%, down from 4.7% at the end of 2023. However, CPI inflation would still be stronger than the Reserve Bank assumed in its February Monetary Policy Statement. Westpac notes that while
Australia’s population increased by a record 660,000 people in the year to September, which is roughly 1.5 times the size of Canberra. On Tuesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released net permanent and long-term arrivals figures for February, revealing record arrivals on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. An unprecedented 105,460 net permanent and
Continued war jitters across the Middle East plus further Fedspeak overnight is not helping risk to stabilise, although Wall Street was able to put in only minor losses with Asian markets still reeling from yesterday’s wider selloff. The USD continues to push back against the undollars, although gold remains unflappable while bond yields jumped to
Six stats to get you going this morning 1. The Dow closed lower for its 6th straight red day. The index is now down over 2,000 points from its recent all time high. 2. The S&P 500 closed below its 50-day moving average Monday for the first time since last November, ending the 10th longest
Markets love to do a Costanza. But it cannot happen for long when fundamentals are so godawful that they hold sway anyway. Yesterday, iron ore broke its short squeeze on terrible Chinese data: Terrible data for iron ore, that is. Overall, the data was fine. Dalian is as volatile as ever for iron ore snd
CBA economist Harry Ottley published the following chart showing how rental growth is highly correlated to the ratio of population growth to new apartment construction: The news on this front is disastrous for renters, with approvals for the construction of new apartments plunging to their lowest level since February 2012: Annual high-rise apartment approvals were
Let’s call it the Llewellyn Turning Point. That moment when every Emerging Market shifts beyond investment utilising steel into other stuff like human beings. China is there. On the surface, March data looked OK: Industrial production rose 4.5% in March from a year earlier (below economists’ forecast of 6%). Industrial output rose 6.1% for the first quarter (below the 7.0% in
The rocky start to the trading week is deepening with stock markets in Asia losing significant ground in response to the escalation in conflict across the Middle East, with a further spike in USD and bond yields. The latest Chinese GDP print did little to assuage risk sentiment either. The Australian dollar is trying to
Statistics New Zealand has released data showing that productivity has collapsed amid the record surge in net overseas migration. “Inputs rose at a higher rate compared with outputs in the year ended March 2023, resulting in decreases in both labour and multifactor productivity”. “Labour productivity fell 0.9%. Labour productivity captures how output relates to changes
Last year, the Albanese government vowed to streamline the list of occupations eligible for employer-sponsored visas. The first draft of the new job list, devised by the government agency Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), reportedly omits chefs, cooks, bakers, and managers, which has angered the hospitality industry. The hospitality industry is now gearing up for