Weekly economic and market update

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China got the past week off to a bad start with growth coming in at 7.7% in the March quarter against expectations for 8% growth and industrial production and fixed... Read more continue reading

Reserve Bank: Watch, wait, analyse

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The minutes of the April 2 Reserve Bank Board meeting concluded: “Overall, recent data suggested that interest-sensitive parts of the economy were responding to the historically low levels of lending rates... Read more continue reading

Dalton Nicol Reid – market update

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Markets have softened in response to two factors; these included the bombs that caused carnage during the Boston Marathon. This occurred an hour before the close of the market and resulted... Read more continue reading

Smallest budget deficit in nine months

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In the year to February, the budget deficit stood at $37,992 million (around 2.6 per cent of GDP), the smallest deficit in nine months. What do the figures show? The... Read more continue reading

Credit cards slide from favour

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The average credit card balance fell by a record 2.5 per cent in the year to February. The average credit card limit rose by just 1.4 per cent in the... Read more continue reading

Weekly economic and market update

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It was back to “risk on” over most of the past week as the positive impetus provided by Japan’s monetary reflation, good Chinese economic data and a reasonable start to... Read more continue reading

Oliver’s Insights: another mid year bout of weakness in shares?

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This edition of Oliver’s Insights looks at the outlook for shares following recent wobbles. The key points are as follows: After strong gains shares are at risk of a correction... Read more continue reading

Unemployment rate lifts to 3½-year high

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Employment fell by 36,200 in March after lifting by 74,000 jobs in February (previously reported as up 71,500). Economists had expected a fall of 10,000 in jobs in March. In... Read more continue reading

Oliver’s Insights – China worries return, but how serious are they?

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The attached edition of Oliver’s Insights looks at the outlook for the Chinese economy and share market. The key points are as follows: China’s worries are overblown. Property tightening is likely to... Read more continue reading

The rise of and rise of bitcoins

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This article examines the emergence of “bitcoins” – a digital currency – effectively electronic cash that enables payments to be made without going through financial institutions like banks. Currently there are... Read more continue reading