Weekly market & economic update Friday 08 October 2010

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Headline developments of the past week The Reserve Bank of Australia surprised many by leaving interest rates on hold, but it made it quite clear that it retains a tightening

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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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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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RBA sets the scene for a rate hike

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RBA Board minutes; ABARE Australian Commodities; Airfares Minutes of the last Reserve Bank Board meeting echo’s the sentiments of the Governors speech yesterday and adds further weight to the likelihood

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Powerhouse mining sector

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Quarterly Labour force data; RBA Speech; Imports In percentage terms, employment in the mining sector expanded rapidly over the past year. In the year to August, mining sector employment grew

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Chinese economy powers along

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Chinese economic data The Chinese economy strengthened in August. Production, retail trade, inflation and money supply all grew at a stronger annual rate in August suggesting that authorities will need

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Investor Signposts: Week Beginning September 12 2010

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The big picture One of the most poorly understood concepts in Australia is housing affordability. However to be fair, the main reason that it has been so poorly analysed and

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Financial Services Council launches Chief Investment Office Investment Index

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Chief Investment Officers mildly optimistic about investment outlook The inaugural ‘Financial Services Council Chief Investment Officer Investment Index’ shows Chief Investment Officers (CIOs) are mildly optimistic about the performance of

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Currency jigsaw puzzle

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As authorities in Western economies grapple with slow economic growth and exhausted policy tools, an old policy favourite, ‘currency devaluation’, could become an appealing option. It may be challenging to

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