Weekly market & economic update – 4 February 2010

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Headline developments Nature continued to wreak havoc in Australia, with Cyclone Yasi smashing into North Queensland as a category 5 storm (the highest they get) leaving a trail of devastation.

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The threat of inflation in Asian & emerging markets

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Key points Rising inflation is becoming a major concern in Asia and other emerging countries. So far it’s largely due to higher food prices. Non-food inflation remains reasonably benign. However,

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Weekly market & economic update 28 January 2011

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Headline developments The Australian Government announced that it needs around $5.6bn to help rebuild flood affected areas and that it will source $1.8bn of this from a temporary levy on

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Why are Australian shares lagging? Will it continue?

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Key points Australian shares have disappointingly underperformed traditional global shares over the last year on the back of monetary tightening, worries about a housing bubble, the strong $A and Chinese

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Weekly market & economic update – 21 January 2011

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Headline developments An acceleration in Chinese economic growth in the December quarter to an estimated annualised pace of around 12% along with ongoing inflation worries have reinforced the case for

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The implications of the floods for Australia

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Key points Like the fires of two years ago the floods have wrought terrible tragedy in terms of loss of life and disruption to people’s lives. Beyond the human suffering

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Weekly market & economic update 07 January 2011

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Headline developments In a move that had been anticipated for some time, China raised one year lending and deposit rates by 0.25% as part of an ongoing effort to keep

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Weekly market & economic update 24 December 2010

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Headline developments of the past week The past week was pretty light on in terms of major news. However, while European debt worries continued amid talk of more ratings downgrades,

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Weekly market & economic update 17 December 2010

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Headline developments of the past week Sovereign debt issues in Europe raised their ugly head again over the last week. While the Irish austerity package was passed by its Parliament,

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Weekly market & economic update – 10 December 2010

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Headline developments of the past week Another round of strong Chinese economic activity indicators, excessive loan growth and a further rise in inflation to 5.1% in November on the back

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