Technical recession not on the cards for Australia

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Cost of living pressures are on the rise, with many Australian consumers changing their buying behaviour, but according to Ron Sargeant, portfolio specialist at Touchstone Asset Management, a technical recession... Read more continue reading

Weekly economic and market update – week ending 19 May, 2023

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Investment markets and key developments Global share markets generally rose over the last week helped by optimism that a US debt ceiling deal will soon be reached and with economic... Read more continue reading

Wage price index growth portends ongoing inflation challenges and US debt ceiling disputes

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Yesterday’s April Labour Force Report was on the surface a little softer than anticipated but is not sufficient to move the dial for the RBA from a setting of “inflation... Read more continue reading

Commercial property returns under threat

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Key points Australian unlisted commercial property returns have been very strong over the last two decades thanks largely to the “search for attractive yields” by investors. With the back up... Read more continue reading

Rising US debt default overtakes inflation concerns

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Higher carry in bond markets means fixed income returns should beat inflation this year. And they are on track. Inflation continues to fall and central banks, having increased rates again... Read more continue reading

US CPI: some slivers of good news but no change in “higher for longer” mantra from the Fed

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Wednesday night’s April US consumer price index (CPI) report does contain some slivers of good news, particularly with regard to reduced price pressure in the services sector. However, the overarching... Read more continue reading

The 2023-24 Budget – return to surplus with fastest improvement since end of WW2, cost of living help but structural deficits remain (albeit smaller)

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Key points The budget this year is expected to return to a surplus of $4bn thanks to a continuing revenue windfall. Key measures include cost-of-living support, more spending on aged... Read more continue reading

Weekly economic and market update – week ending 5 May, 2023

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Investment markets and key developments Global share markets mostly fell over the last week with further rate hikes and ongoing concerns about US banks and the US debt ceiling. US,... Read more continue reading

The Fed is now “one and done and ECB to raise the policy rate 25 bps

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As was widely anticipated the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) chose to increase the policy (federal funds rate) target by 25 bps to an upper limit of 5.25... Read more continue reading

Toward a fitter future: Reserve Bank of Australia surprises with a 25 basis point policy rate hike

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In what was a surprise decision, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Board meeting on Tuesday decided to increase the policy rate to 3.85 per cent. Following on from last... Read more continue reading