The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released mortgage data for July, which showed that the total value of new housing loans rose 3.9% in July to $30.6 billion, led by a 5.4% jump in investor lending to $11.7 billion: The following chart focuses on investor lending, which has risen back to its January 2022 peak
The Market Ear on the seasonality of September. aNet leverage lower The MS PB Content notes that across US-based L/S funds, net leverage fell ~4% WoW to 46%. Nets are now hovering near the bottom decile relative to levels over the past 12 months. Given that most of this week’s net selling came via short
Risk markets did not like the “soft but not too soft” US jobs print on Friday night with their initial reaction flipping into risk-off mode halfway through the session as Wall Street tanked and the USD soared back into strength. Treasury yields eventually only finished slightly down while currency markets absorbed volatility around the print
The CEO of consultancy EnergyQuest claims that the “only” solution to a looming gas supply crisis is to import LNG from offshore into the southern states. At Port Kembla, a little more than 100 kilometres south of Sydney, the energy company controlled by iron ore magnate and climate evangelist Andrew Forrest—Squadron Energy—is building a $1
CoreLogic declared that “the end of the rental boom is in sight” after “rents flatlined in July and August”: The stabilisation follows a 39% rent rise between August 2020 and June 2024. CoreLogic also shows that the annual growth in rents is also slowing. Nationally, the annual pace of rental growth peaked at 9.7% over
Treasurer Jim Chalmers was busy claiming that record federal spending has kept the economy out of recession. “I’m old enough to remember when government’s budgets helping to avoid recession was seen as a good thing”, Chalmers said. “We’re going for a soft landing in the economy. Our political opponents really want to see a hard
Elizabeth Knight is one of Australia’s best economic and business journalists, and she regularly writes informative, perceptive and lucid commentary on markets, the economy, and the actions of the corporate world. Knight is one of very few in the Nine world of whom you can assume you will read something intelligent. Her piece this week,
DXY was stable overnight: AUD was blasted anyway: North Asia carry crashes are back: Oil broke closing technical support: Metals mayhem: Miners mauled: EM at the neckline: Junk hiccupping: Treasury curve through the roof: Stocks through the floor: US jobs were Goldilocks really: Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 142,000 in August, and the unemployment
SHFE and SGX were smashed this week: Overnight, Mad Dalian hit another new low: Coking coal is in free fall: Scuttlebutt is still terrible: In August, domestic steel demand weakened further, while steel production decreased, according to CSLPC. Iron ore’s slump comes as the China Iron & Steel Association advised mills against the impulse to
International Reads: Kamala Harris’ magic number for revamping the corporate tax rate is nearly double what Trump is proposing – Fortune Goldman Sachs: Kamala Harris would be better for economy – NY Daily A Kamala Harris win and a Democratic sweep would give the biggest boost to the economy, Goldman Sachs says – QZ Germany