Reserve Bank signals rates on hold

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RBA Statement on Monetary Policy The recent floods and softer-than-expected economic data have caused the Reserve Bank to tinker with short-term forecasts, but the longer-term forecasts are unchanged. Given the

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House approvals remain at 18 month lows

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Building Approvals; Trade; New Vehicle Sales; PSI Approvals to build news homes rose by 8.7 per cent in December. However all the gains were centred on apartment approvals – which

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Food prices fall; Housing remains depressed

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New Home Sales; Average Retail Prices A raft of supermarket items fell in price over the past three months. On average almost half of regularly surveyed grocery items were cheaper

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Floods take toll on corporate Australia

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NAB Business Survey; PMI The NAB business confidence index fell from +6.2 to -2.7 in December – the weakest reading in 20 months. The business conditions index rose from +3.7

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Floods will have no impact on interest rates

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Reserve Bank Board meeting The Reserve Bank Board has left the cash rate at 4.75 per cent at its first meeting for 2011. The next meeting is on March 1

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Home prices at 18-month lows

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Home prices Capital city home prices rose by 0.2 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms in December after falling by 0.1 per cent in November according to the RP Data-Rismark

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Flood levy proposed – but is it necessary?

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Economic issues The Prime Minister has proposed a levy on higher-income Australians to assist in meeting the damage bill from the east coast floods. The levy will apply in 2011/12

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Investor Signposts: Week Beginning January 30 2011

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The big picture With the first Reserve Bank Board meeting for 2011 scheduled for next Tuesday, it’s opportune to do a stock take of our current economic fortunes. First there

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Wealth hits record highs; Debt slides again

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Modellers’ Database: Wealth & debt Wealth is at record highs. Wealth held by Australians in property, shares and other assets hit record highs at the end of September. The latest

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Petrol pain; Tame business inflation

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Producer price index; Weekly petrol price The broad measure of business inflation – the producer price index (PPI) – rose by just 0.1 per cent in the December quarter, well

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