Healthy trade; petrol prices to creep higher

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International trade; Job advertisements; Petrol price The trade surplus widened in August. The trade surplus rose by $603 million to $2,346 million. Exports fell by 2.4 per cent while imports

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Good inflation data to cheer Reserve Bank

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Inflation gauge The TD Securities-Melbourne Institute monthly inflation gauge rose by just 0.05 per cent in September – the lowest increase in 11 months – after lifting 0.2 per cent

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Housing slowdown may delay rate hike

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Trends in housing The release of the building approvals and home price data is an opportune time to focus on the latest trends in the housing market. Dwelling approvals, new

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Investor Signposts: Week Beginning October 3 2010

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The big picture Next week the Reserve Bank is widely expected to lift interest rates. Interestingly if you go back just over a fortnight ago no major forecaster was expecting

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Manufacturing contracts to nine-month lows

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Performance of Manufacturing The Performance of Manufacturing index fell by 4.4 points in September to a nine-month low of 47.3.  Any reading below 50 means the manufacturing sector is contracting.

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Weak data raises doubts about imminent rate hike

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Latest economic data The outlook for home builders remains sluggish. New dwelling approvals fell for the fourth time in the past five months – down by 4.7 per cent in

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Home prices fall again in August

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House Prices The RP Data-Rismark Hedonic Australian Home Value Index – the largest property database in Australia – reported that home prices fell by 0.2 per cent seasonally adjusted terms

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Baby-boom! Migration levels ease

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Population statistics Australia’s population grew by 403,082 people over the year to March. Population growth consolidated, increasing by 1.8 per cent over the past year, however continuing to ease from

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Petrol to fall as wholesale price hits 11-month low

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Petrol price Petrol prices have risen for the second consecutive week. The Australian Institute of Petroleum reports that the average Australian petrol price rose by 0.5 cents a litre last

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Budget outcome: Better than expected… again

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Federal budget update The Federal Budget deficit stood at $54.8 billion in 2009/10 (4.2 per cent of GDP), an improvement of $2.3 billion on the estimate made just four months

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