The final polls of 2024 has smacked the Albanese government squarely in the face. The Guardian’s Essential Poll of 1,151 voters found that Albanese’s net approval rating is presently -11, with 50% disapproving of his performance as Prime Minister (up three points since November) and 39% approving (down three). Peter Dutton’s approval rating is marginally positive
Last week’s Q2 official population data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that Australia’s net overseas migration has slowed materially, down to 445,700 in Q2 2024 from 555,800 in Q2 2023. The slowing of net overseas migration and tenants moving into shared housing have increased rental vacancy rates, especially across Sydney and Melbourne.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the federal government undertook a “very robust and very consultative” process to select the members of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) two new boards, which will come into effect on 1 March 2025. Professor Renee Fry-McKibbin and former Bendigo Bank CEO Marnie Baker will join four of the RBA’s current
Wall Street is diverging in fortune with the headline Dow again retreating overnight while the tech heavy NASDAQ made yet another new high. Over in Europe it was all uncertain with most stock markets pulling back in the wake of a crisis in German politics, seemingly mirrored in Canadian halls of power early this morning
Australia’s governments have chosen to abandon cheap and reliable coal-fired generation in the name of ‘net zero’. This is despite China burning Australian coal and gas without restraint. Australian coal plants were shut down, and investment and maintenance in the remaining plants were curtailed. After all, why invest in maintenance when your plant has been
Domain’s preliminary auction data for the week ending Saturday show that Sydney’s residential clearance rate fell to 50.7%, its lowest level of 2024. As illustrated below, the decline in Sydney’s auction clearance rate is consistent with falling home prices. Indeed, CoreLogic’s daily dwelling values index has recorded a decline of 0.5% over the past 28
While Bitcoin hits a new high, Asian stock markets are generally lower across the board, as the risk off mood from Wall Street on Friday night remains as traders await this week’s central bank meetings include the Fed. The USD has pushed all the undollars back after the weekend gap with the Australian dollar again
New Zealand has experienced the most significant decline in per capita GDP in the English-speaking world over the past year. In the seven quarters to Q2 2024, New Zealand’s per capita GDP fell 4.6%. This represented a larger per capita decline than was experienced after the Global Financial Crisis. Statistics New Zealand will release the
From The Market Ear: Complacency and calm, that is the way to describe the general sentiment in the markets right now and we are hearing more and more “volatility is dead” trades presented. However, never ever forget that volatility is mean reverting. The actual VIX level at its natural floor, combined with the most extreme
The S&P Global Flash Australia PMI has fallen to a three-month low. According to the release: “At 49.9 in December, the headline seasonally adjusted S&P Global Flash Australia PMI Composite Output Index was down from 50.2 in November and the lowest in three months. The index signalled that Australia’s private sector output declined marginally following