(23 November 2019, AFR, p33, Luke Housego, Reporter) ‘A rout in the banks and trade-deal uncertainty dragged the Australian share market to its worst weekly performance in seven weeks, despite a moderate recovery on the last day of trade. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.23 per cent to 6709.8 during the week, with the pull-back … Continue reading
(23 November 2019, AFR, p25, James Fernyhough, Reporter) ‘Rising mental health claims and the fallout from the Hayne royal commission have contributed to a net loss of $86 million across all Australian life insurers in the first six months of 2019, a new report by KPMG has found. That continued a stark downward trajectory from … Continue reading
(23 November 2019, AFR, p6, Bo Seo, Reporter) ‘The total damage from the devastating bushfires has exceeded $165 million as almost 150 fires continue to burn across the country. The Insurance Council of Australia confirmed on Friday that 1525 bushfire-related claims had been lodged in November alone, an increase of almost 200 claims in a … Continue reading
(16 November 2019, AFR, p4, Phillip Coorey, Political Editor) ‘Climate change and the environment have become key issues of concern among voters, rivalling health and the economy and sounding an early warning to the Morrison government ahead of the next federal election should the current crisis not abate. The latest True Issues survey by JWS … Continue reading
(22 November 2019, AFR, p22, Jenny Wiggins, Infrastructure Reporter) ‘Falling new car sales and lower consumer spending on imported goods like clothes and shoes have hurt Qube’s Patrick container ports business, with volumes dropping 6.6 per cent in the September quarter. Qube’s managing director Maurice James told the company’s annual general meeting in Sydney that … Continue reading
(22 November 2019, AFR, Review supplement p5, Alexandra Stevenson and Cao Li) ‘When the call came for local doctors and nurses to step up for their troubled community, the emergency wasn’t medical. It was financial. Ruzhou, a city of a million people in central China, urgently needed a new hospital, their bosses said. To pay … Continue reading
(22 November 2019, AFR, p20, Simon Evans, Senior Reporter) ‘BlueScope Steel says there’s been a ”modest” pick-up in demand for steel products in the Australian construction sector and its United States operations are tracking solidly, but overall conditions are still being hampered by weaker commodity steel prices.’ Read more at AFR.com (might need AFR login … Continue reading
(22 November 2019, AFR, p14, Simon Denyer and Tiffany Liang) ‘Hong Kong | The prospect of a diplomatic showdown between the United States and China over Hong Kong sent global stock markets sliding on Thursday, after Congress passed a bill intended to protect human rights in the territory and Beijing threatened retaliation. Hong Kong’s stock … Continue reading
(22 November 2019, AFR, p14, Emma Connors, South-east Asia correspondent) ‘Singapore | Singapore’s bellwether economy has avoided a recession this year, but cyclical and structural shifts affecting trade-exposed countries across the region will continue to suppress growth rates into 2020. The Singapore government now expects the economy to expand by between 0.5 and 1 per … Continue reading
(22 November 2019, AFR, p12, Matthew Cranston, Economics correspondent) ‘Moody’s Investor Service and S&P Global Ratings, the world’s biggest ratings agencies, are at loggerheads over whether Australia’s state governments will be able to handle lower goods and services tax collection and higher debt levels going into 2020. Moody’s revised its outlook for state governments from … Continue reading
(22 November 2019, AFR, p30, William McInnes, Reporter) ‘Australian shares tumbled for a second day running on Thursday, as concerns over the future of a potential US-China trade deal reverberated around global markets. The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 49.5 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 6672.9, with $41 billion wiped from the bourse in the … Continue reading
(22 November 2019, The Age, p5, By Shane Wright) ‘The Australian economy is “weak”, with households weighed down by slow wages growth and higher taxes, the OECD has declared in a report that backs lower interest rates, calls for more government spending and paves the way for unconventional monetary policies. In its six-monthly review of … Continue reading
(21 November 2019, AFR, p13, Winni Zhou and John Ruwitch) ‘Shanghai | China cut its new benchmark lending rate on Wednesday, as widely expected, moving to drive down funding costs and shore up an economy hurt by slowing demand and trade tariffs. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was lowered by 5 basis points to … Continue reading
(21 November 2019, AFR, p12, Hans van Leeuwen, Europe correspondent) ‘London | British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Labour rival Jeremy Corbyn ground out what looked to be a draw in a terse, tense television debate that focused largely on Brexit and the National Health Service. The debate reflected an election campaign, now at … Continue reading
(20 November 2019, The Age, p4, By Shane Wright) ‘Australian household debt has reached a record high level as low wage growth fails to keep up with a resurgent property market amid signs the Reserve Bank will start next year with another interest rate cut to boost the economy. As a weekly measure of consumer … Continue reading
(18 November 2019, AFR, p32, Nila Sweeney, Reporter) ‘CBA has revised up its residential price targets for 2020, citing the phenomenal rebound in housing demand in Sydney and Melbourne over the past four months. The bank is now forecasting the national dwelling price to rise by 6.1 per cent by the end of 2020 – … Continue reading
(18 November 2019, AFR, p11, Su-Lin Tan, Reporter) ‘Sales of homes by private treaty are on the rise in Sydney and Melbourne, in what analysts said is a sign the turnaround in residential property is reaching beyond inner-city hotspots and taking root in the suburbs. In the past week, there were 1091 private treaty sales … Continue reading
(18 November 2019, AFR, p8, David Marin-Guzman, Workplace correspondent) ‘More than a thousand Woolworths employees in NSW have won a pay rise of 16 per cent over three years, more than double the average rate of wage growth. The supermarket giant has agreed to front-load an 8 per cent pay rise for warehouse workers at … Continue reading
(18 November 2019, AFR, p6, Elouise Fowler, Reporter) ‘A $25 billion dollar investment boom in renewable energy projects has pushed up wages for renewable jobs, bucking the low wage growth trend in the rest of the private sector. Wage growth in the renewable sector will continue in 2020 with some wages growing by 26 per … Continue reading
(15 November 2019, AFR, p30, Luke Housego, Reporter) ‘The lead indicator of recession has abated but that does not mean we’re out of the woods. The last of the inverted US yield curves has finally levelled out this month, but bond fund managers warn pressure on US-China trade policy could see the market’s favoured recession … Continue reading
(15 November 2019, AFR, p16, Wu Xiaomeng, Wu Hongyuran and Han Wei) ‘Beijing | Top Chinese bank regulators moved to defuse growing unease in the country’s $US40 trillion ($58.5 trillion) banking system after two small lenders were hit with bank runs in less than two weeks. In a briefing this week, three senior officials of … Continue reading
(15 November 2019, The Age, p1, By Shane Wright and Matt Wade) ‘The Morrison government is looking at ways to deliver tax relief to middle income earners to boost the economy after the nation suffered its biggest one month fall in jobs in more than three years. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the government was “always … Continue reading
(14 November 2019, AFR, p30, Timothy Moore, Online editor) ‘Equity markets have been on a tear the last few weeks and the November survey of global fund managers by Bank of America Merrill Lynch highlights a significant repositioning for the year ahead. Investor cash levels fell to 4.2 per cent this month from 5 per … Continue reading
(14 November 2019, AFR, p13, Du Caicai and Ren Qiuyu) ‘Beijing | Pork prices have more than doubled in China as a nationwide outbreak of African swine fever continues to wreak havoc on the market. Prices of the country’s favourite meat in October surged 101.3 per cent year-on-year and 20.1 per cent from September, according … Continue reading
(14 November 2019, AFR, p6, David Marin-Guzman, Workplace correspondent) ‘Wage growth has declined to 2.2 per cent after rising 0.5 per cent in the quarter, despite a high minimum wage increase. Private sector wages grew 2.2 per cent in the year to September compared with public sector pay rises of 2.5 per cent, according to … Continue reading
(13 November 2019, AFR, p33, Vesna Poljak and Sarah Turner) ‘A tilt towards value and cyclical stocks, underpinning an embryonic global market rally, will probably mean the Australian benchmark underperforms any recovery in world equities, for the same reason that it has outperformed for most of 2019. A bottoming-out of leading indicators suggest a stabilisation … Continue reading
(13 November 2019, AFR, p23, Max Mason, Media & Marketing Editor) ‘Nine chairman Peter Costello believes lending laws imposed by the government after the Hayne royal commission are “choking credit”, leading to weak consumer sentiment and a challenging advertising market. Nine, publisher of The Australian Financial Review, warned on Tuesday its pro forma earnings before … Continue reading
(13 November 2019, AFR, p15, Peng Qinqin and Han Wei) ‘Beijing | Chinese corporations’ demand for credit has turned sluggish as the economy cools, dragging new credit growth to nearly a two-year low in October. Data from the central bank showed that in October the country added 618.9 billion yuan ($128.5 billion) of total social … Continue reading
[COMMENT: General economic conditions continue to be challenging, and the advertising market is “soft”. Read more below.] (13 November 2019, The Age, Business, p27, By Jennifer Duke) ‘Nine Entertainment Co chairman Peter Costello has cited lending restrictions imposed by the government as a key factor behind the weak advertising market, arguing they have drained confidence … Continue reading
(13 November 2019, The Age, p17, By Nick Miller and Irene Lioumi) ‘London: China has announced plans to dramatically increase its stake in Greece, which it sees as an economic gateway to Europe, with a suite of 16 new investment and trade agreements signed on a visit by President Xi Jinping to Athens on Monday. … Continue reading
(13 November 2019, The Age, p8, By Shane Wright) ‘Retailers are preparing for a bleak Christmas, expecting Australians to take a Scrooge-like approach to the most important shopping time of the year even as signs emerge the overall economy is stabilising. The annual pre-Christmas survey of retailers by Deloitte shows expectations at their worst since … Continue reading
(12 November 2019, AFR, p38, Nila Sweeney, Reporter) ‘Property market sentiment has rebounded sharply among investors but first home buyers are starting to feel the pinch of affordability pressures, the latest ME Quarterly Property Sentiment Report shows. A national poll of 1000 investors, owner-occupiers and first home buyers at the start of October found that … Continue reading
(12 November 2019, AFR, pS2, Mark Eggleton) ‘Global infrastructure spending needs to increase significantly if we want to sustain economic growth into the future, according to the most recent Global Infrastructure Outlook released by the G20’s Global Infrastructure Hub and Oxford Economics.’ <snipped…> ‘Closer to home, Australia is still in the midst of a construction … Continue reading
(12 November 2019, AFR, p13, Michael Smith, China Correspondent) ‘Shanghai | China’s internet slowed to a crawl shortly after midnight on Monday as tens of millions of people simultaneously picked up their smartphones to shop online. Bargain-hungry consumers, many huddled in bed, began ratcheting up billions of dollars of purchases in the early hours of … Continue reading
(12 November 2019, AFR, p12, Daniel Ramos and Monica Machicao) ‘La Paz | Bolivian President Evo Morales resigned on Sunday (Monday AEDT), saying he wanted to ease violence that has gripped the South American nation since a disputed election. However, he stoked fears of more unrest by saying he was the victim of a “coup” … Continue reading
(12 November 2019, AFR, p12, Raphael Minder) ‘Madrid | A Spanish far-right party doubled its standing in a national election on Sunday that made clear just how polarised Spanish politics has become and did little to help end the government’s long deadlock. The results were a setback for Pedro Sánchez, the caretaker Socialist prime minister, … Continue reading
(12 November 2019, AFR, p7, John Kehoe, Senior Writer) ‘First home buyers are streaming back into the housing market and the Morrison government’s first home loan deposit scheme due to start in January will put further upward pressure on prices, according to property industry professionals.’ Read more at AFR.com (might need AFR login access, or … Continue reading
(12 November 2019, The Age, Business, p29, By Lucy Battersby and David Scutt) ‘Australia’s sharemarket enjoyed a strong session on Monday, closing the day at its highest level in three months. The S&P/ASX 200 now sits just 73 points below its all-time closing high of 6845 points, which it tapped on July 30. Monday’s bullish … Continue reading
(12 November 2019, The Age, Business, p25, By Elizabeth Knight) ‘It wasn’t that many months ago the tag “stronger for longer” was being applied to the iron ore price and our big local producers were celebrating massive yearly profits while showering shareholders with dividends and the federal government was counting its blessings for the bounce … Continue reading
(12 November 2019, The Age, Business, p24, Stephen Bartholomeusz) ‘For decades the debates about “peak oil” were about the moment production would start to decline. Now it’s about when demand starts to fall away and that moment appears to be drawing closer.’ Read more at TheAge.com.au
(11 November 2019, AFR, p31, Michael Bleby, Senior Reporter) ‘Mortgage lending figures published on Friday showed the current dwelling-price boom is doing little to stimulate new housing development. A deeper-than-expected slump in home building leaves the economy dependent on governments’ promised infrastructure spending flowing through to support construction, jobs and the wider economy, the Australian … Continue reading
(11 November 2019, AFR, p5, Michael Bleby, Senior Reporter) ‘Increasingly confident buyers pushed Sydney’s auction clearance rate to a preliminary 81 per cent as auction volumes rose to their second highest for the year in a market where values are racing towards new highs. The initial results of the scheduled 931 auctions in the NSW … Continue reading
(8 November 2019, AFR, p38, Michael Bleby, Senior Reporter) ‘Improvements in detached house building, new orders and employment slowed the pace of decline in construction in October, the latest Performance of Construction Index shows. While Australian construction declined for a 19th straight month, the headline index gained 1.3 points to 43.9 last month. The index, … Continue reading
(8 November 2019, AFR, p33, Philip Georgiadis) ‘ The UK’s general election campaign officially began on Wednesday, injecting five weeks of uncertainty into markets. Here’s what to look out for. ‘ ‘London | The UK’s general election campaign officially began on Wednesday, injecting five weeks of uncertainty into markets. The polls give Boris Johnson’s Conservatives … Continue reading
(8 November 2019, AFR, p19, James Eyers, Senior Reporter) ‘The major banks’ cash earnings have slumped to their lowest level in seven years, return on equity is the lowest in 20 years, and net interest margins – the core driver of revenue – have fallen below 2 per cent for the first time. With National … Continue reading
(8 November 2019, AFR, p6, Matthew Cranston, Economics correspondent) ‘Australia’s first current account surplus in 44 years is expected to hold strong for another quarter after the monthly trade surplus rebounded to $7.2 billion, well ahead of economists’ consensus of $5.1 billion and mainly due to an increase in the value of gas and ore … Continue reading
(7 November 2019, AFR, p35, Larry Schlesinger, Reporter) ‘An investor in the southern hemisphere’s tallest tower, Australia 108, on Melbourne’s Southbank, says he has only himself to blame after heavily overpaying for a two-bedroom apartment bought off-the-plan four years ago. The local buyer, who asked not to be named, bought the apartment for $972,000 in … Continue reading
(7 November 2019, AFR, p28, Heather Long) ‘The message from the markets, many experts, the latest economic data and top Federal Reserve officials is that recession risk has subsided. Somewhere around Halloween, the US economy started to look a bit less scary. Top US and Chinese officials are talking about a trade war truce. Many … Continue reading
(7 November 2019, AFR, p5, Matthew Cranston, Economics correspondent) ‘The cost of living for working households is rising at about half the rate of wages, thanks to lower prices for banking, communication and transport. The cost of living rose by 0.1 per cent in the September quarter for households that work, or 1.3 per cent … Continue reading
(7 November 2019, AFR, p5, Simon Evans, Senior Reporter) ‘New vehicle sales slumped by 9.1 per cent in October compared with the same month a year ago, extending a downturn in the industry which now stretches for 19 consecutive months. The bleak numbers mean that 78,000 fewer new vehicles have been bought for the first … Continue reading
