Inflation gauge; Weekly Petrol Price, PMI, House Price Index
- The TD Securities-Melbourne Institute monthly inflation gauge rose by 0.3 per cent in October after lifting 0.1 per cent in September, and 0.2 per cent in August.
- Importantly other underlying rates of inflation were relatively tame in October. The trimmed mean rose by 0.2 per cent and the inflation measure that excludes volatile items was flat in October.
- The Performance of Manufacturing index rose from nine-month lows, up by 2.1 points in October to 49.4. Any reading below 50 means the manufacturing sector is contracting. Across the sub indices, production rose from nine-month lows, however new orders slumped to a 16 month low, while exports tracked to the weakest levels in 11-months.
- According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum the national average retail pump price fell 0.3 cents a litre last week to 123.6 cents a litre. Over the next fortnight CommSec expects pump prices to trend sideways as the strengthening Australian dollar largely negates any increase in regional oil prices.
- The Bureau of Statistics house price index rose by 0.1 per cent in the September quarter to stand 11.5 per cent higher than a year ago. The data is consistent with the RP Data-Rismark index that is tracked by the Reserve Bank.
- HSBC’s China Purchasing Managers’ Index rose from 52.9 to 54.8 in October – a six month high. The measure of prices is at a 27-month high.