Two thirds of Asian companies have strong balance sheets, finds Fidelity survey

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Solid performance with double digit sales and profit growth expected for Asian companies Inflation, US economy and regulation are key challenges Companies cashed up and potentially looking to spend Asian

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Petrol prices limp, not leap, higher

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Weekly petrol prices Petrol prices are limping, not leaping higher. According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average Australian price of unleaded petrol rose by just 0.2 cents

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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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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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Floods will have no impact on interest rates

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Reserve Bank Board meeting The Reserve Bank Board has left the cash rate at 4.75 per cent at its first meeting for 2011. The next meeting is on March 1

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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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Investor Signposts: Week Beginning January 30 2011

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The big picture With the first Reserve Bank Board meeting for 2011 scheduled for next Tuesday, it’s opportune to do a stock take of our current economic fortunes. First there

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Petrol pain; Tame business inflation

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Producer price index; Weekly petrol price The broad measure of business inflation – the producer price index (PPI) – rose by just 0.1 per cent in the December quarter, well

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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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