Car sales slide as buyer caution emerges

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New car sales Australian new car sales recorded a modest fall in January. Car sales fell by 1.9 per cent in January – marking the biggest monthly fall in six

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Frugal shoppers stay home with a good book

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Retail trade; Job advertisements; Performance of Construction Weak consumer spending. Retail spending grew by just 0.2 per cent in December, below expectations centred on a rise of 0.5 per cent.

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Reserve Bank signals rates on hold

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RBA Statement on Monetary Policy The recent floods and softer-than-expected economic data have caused the Reserve Bank to tinker with short-term forecasts, but the longer-term forecasts are unchanged. Given the

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Share prices, consumer spending and the GFC

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In this issue we look at share markets in Australia and around the world – how they have fared in the GFC and what may lie ahead as the debt

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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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Discount airfares hit record lows

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Index of Airfares All airfares except discount fares rose in January. Domestic airfares generally rose in January with business fares up 2.9 per cent, full economy fares up 1.1 per

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Record credit card use; Surprise lift in tourism

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Migration & Tourism; Credit card lending Record lift in credit card use. The number of purchases and cash out transactions made on credit cards lifted by 13 per cent in

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Trade surplus to moderate as coal volumes fall

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International trade Australia’s trade surplus narrowed by $636 million to $1,925 million in November. Economists had tipped a surplus near $2 billion. Exports were flat over the month while imports

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Encouraging pickup in car sales

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Car sales In December, 86,587 vehicles were sold, down by 2.4 per cent compared with a year ago. In seasonally adjusted terms CommSec estimates that sales rose by 1.5 per

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Investor Signposts: Week Beginning January 9 2011

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The big picture One thing we can never escape here in Australia is natural disasters. Whether it is drought, floods, bushfires, cyclones or hail storms, natural disasters are part and

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