Westpac with the note. The Westpac Card Tracker Index* has been relatively steady through September, holding at 135.4 in the latest week ended September 21. The data continues to point to a lacklustre spending response to the ‘stage 3’ tax cuts and other fiscal support measures that came into effect from the start of July.
Since MB drove BREE, the old and inept Australian government commodity forecaster, out of business, the Office of the Chief Economist took over the job and has done much better. BREE was always far too bullish and OCE has been much more realistic. However, its latest update is not so good. Overall, it has gotten
The Productivity Commission with the report. A year has passed since the ‘COVID-19 productivity bubble’ and Australian productivity growth appears to have reverted to the same stagnant pattern as before the pandemic, despite the very different economic conditions. Labour productivity declined by 0.8% for the whole economy in the June 2024 quarter (an increase of
DXY is holding. EUR is poised for beakout: AUD is putting in a series of candles: North Asia is fading: Oil held on as the Levant burns: Metals flamed out: Miners topped: EM too: Junk is a one way bull train: Yields firmed: Stocks too: The news is European inflation is cooked now too and
SHFE and SGX were outright hysterical yesterday but the latter flamed out overnight: There’s no improvement in steel mill margins here: However, there was improvement in the Steel PMI: Don’t ask me if the short squeeze is over. It is one the craziest I have seen. With China on holiday for a week, maybe the
Last night saw a general absence of tier one economic prints but some key speeches from Fed members including Chair Powell which netted a gain for USD and a selloff in Treasuries as he indicated two more rate cuts are likely on the way. Wall Street followed the very soft mood in Europe but a
CoreLogic’s September housing market report shows that the national rental index increased by only 0.1% over the September quarter, the smallest change over a rolling three-month period in four years. Rents fell in Sydney (-0.5%), Brisbane (-0.2%), and Canberra (-0.8%) during the quarter, and rental growth slowed in most other capitals. Rents in Melbourne and
Stephen Wu, senior economist at CBA, has published research showing how Australians are overwhelmingly using the extra disposable income from the Stage 3 tax cuts to pay down debts. Wu notes that the growth in total salaries and wages paid into CBA bank accounts has picked up since the tax cuts took effect in July.
The National Bank of Canada has released stunning data showing the extent to which government spending is holding up Canada’s economy while still shrinking at an alarming rate per capita. According to the National Bank of Canada, per capita “GDP has seen a cumulative decline of 3.9% since its peak in 2022, the first time
Chinese stocks have soared higher in one of their best one day performances in a decade as traders don’t want to miss out before the week long holiday. The reaction to the PBOC stimulus has been considerably overdone but not yet stopped! Local shares gained in sympathy while Japanese shares slumped on the back of