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Home prices; Consumer sentiment; Reserve Bank Board minutes Home prices: The Bureau of Statistics reports that Australian home prices fell by 2.4 per cent in the December quarter to stand 5.1 per cent lower over the year. The number of established house and attached home transfers in Sydney fell to 13,991 in the December quarter […]

Weekly Petrol Prices Petrol: According to data from the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average price of unleaded petrol rose by 4.1 cents in the past week to 134.6 cents a litre. Pump prices in Brisbane are near 4-month highs at $1.50 a litre, according to MotorMouth and Informed Sources. Diesel: The national average […]

Consumer sentiment; NAB business survey; Lending; Credit cards Business survey: The NAB business conditions index eased from +6.6 points in January to +4.4 points in February, below the long-term average of +5.8 points. The business confidence index fell to a 3-year low of +2.0 points in February, down from +3.6 points in January and below the […]

National accounts Record expansion: Australia’s record economic expansion is now well into its 28th year. The Australian economy grew by 0.2 per cent in the December quarter (survey: +0.3 per cent) after growing 0.3 per cent in the September quarter. Annual economic growth fell from 2.8 per cent to 2.3 per cent (survey: +2.6 per cent). Contribution […]

Consumer sentiment; Services sector Consumer confidence: The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence rating rose by 0.6 per cent to 114.8 points. Consumer sentiment is above the average of 114.4 points held since 2014 and higher than the longer term average of 113.1 points since 1990. Inflation expectations: Consumer inflation expectations over the next two years fell from […]

Business Indicators; International aviation; Building approvals; Job Ads Profits: Company operating profits rose for the sixth straight quarter, up 0.8 per cent in the December quarter. Profits were up 10.5 per cent on the year. In the year to December, profits hit a record high of $354.6 billion, up 10.6 per cent on a year earlier. […]

Domestic airfares; China inflation Discount airfares: Discount airfares fell by 0.7 per cent in February after declining by 34.6 per cent in January. Discount fares are down by 4.3 per cent over the year – the weakest annual growth rate in 2½ years. In smoothed terms, discount fares increased by 0.5 per cent on a year […]

Weekly Petrol Prices Petrol: According to data from the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average price of unleaded petrol fell by 3.3 cents to 127.4 cents a litre in the past week. The petrol figures have implications for retailers, especially petrol marketing groups. What does it all mean? The Singapore gasoline price has lifted 6 […]

Economic trends & issues The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) yesterday released retail spending data for the December quarter. CommSec obtained detailed spending data from the ABS in nominal and real (inflation-adjusted) terms. The data provides insights on how spending has been changing across the economy. Spending rose by just 0.1 per cent in real […]