The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released its CPI indicator for July, which came in a little above expectations. The CPI Indicator rose 3.5% in the 12 months to July 2024, down from 3.8% in June. Economists had tipped a 3.4% increase. The following graphic from Alex Joiner at IFM Investors breaks down the
Justin Fabo at Antipodean Macro has published charts on wage growth on Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBAs). The following chart from Fabo shows that “Average annualised wages growth in federal enterprise bargaining agreements (EBAs) lodged for approval with Australia’s Fair Work Commission was was 3.5% in the 4 weeks to 26 July”: More interestingly, union negotiated
Albo’s nation-gutting energy shock is slowly ebbing as we move into Spring shoulder season for power: However, do not expect the lows of last year to return while gas is glued to Albo’s catastrophic $12Gj price floor: The Albanese government’s failure to fix gas markets is on full display today as the entire parliamentary pet
The Market Ear on familiar territory. Soggy China CSI 300 not far from panic lows we saw earlier this year. The gap vs SPX is beyond extreme… Source: Refinitiv Chinese speculation ChiNext is the home to fast money. Both the ChiNext and China margin trading debt charts are having problems finding “bids”… Source: Refinitiv That
Qingdao iron ore is ignoring the fireworks in futures, barely up at $93.03. SHFE and SGX futures are bouncing together but steel mill profitability is getting worse, not better: Dalian is unhinged as usual: Not so much for coking coal: CISA output went from bad to worse in mid-August and inventory rose 4% anyway: With
Before the pandemic, Australia had by far the highest concentration of international students in the world, dwarfing other Anglo nations: The explosion in student numbers followed the strategic review of the student visa program in 2011 (‘the Knight review’) by the Gillard Government, which greatly expanded work rights for graduate (485) visas in 2013. In
Overnight saw more wobbles on equity markets as bond markets led the risk charge, notably European fixed income on the back of the French political imbroglio and US 2 year Treasuries in the wake of the latest US consumer confidence figures. The USD retreated against the majors, with most returning to last Friday’s strong post
The August Statement of Monetary Policy (SoMP) from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) showed that advertised rental growth is finally falling, but remains at an elevated level historically: Westpac senior economist Justin Smirk warns that rents as measured in the CPI will remain a significant ‘thorn in the side’ of the RBA into 2025,
DXY is still hugging support: AUD wants to go higher: North Asia too: The golden rocket! Full metals reflation: Miners not so much: EM poor effort: Junk still bullish: Yields are paused: Stocks too: DXY is majorly overbought so some pullback is in order: EUR has overshot too: But there is still room for DXY
Australia’s politicians, economists, the media, and think tanks continually claim that a lack of supply has driven the housing crisis. They also claim that if the nation just built more homes, the crisis would magically resolve. This ‘lack of supply’ reasoning falls apart once you examine the data. It turns out that Australia has one