Aussie bond buyers keep reins as traders await RBA’s Lowe. 10-year coupons retreat from the highest in eight years to snap a four-week uptrend. 3-year Treasury yield reverse from late 2011 highs, on the way to posting the biggest weekly loss in 11 years. Aussie data, hawkish RBA fail to underpin bond-buying amid recession fears. … Read more
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Wednesday that he expects inflation to reach its highest level in 32 years by the end of 2022, calling for more interest rates from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) before Christmas. Key quotes ‘We’ll see that later. Certainly, the expectation across the board is that inflation will get … Read more
The Australian Unemployment Rate arrived at 3.9% in May, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed in its latest data published on Thursday. In April, the jobless rate hit the lowest since 1974 at 3.9%. The market consensus was for a drop to 3.8% in the reported month. more to come … Why Australian employment … Read more
Financial Times (FT) came out with a story signaling more disputes between Australia and China as Beijing searches for a centralized iron ore producer. “China is moving to consolidate the country’s iron ore imports through a new centrally controlled group by the end of this year, as Xi Jinping’s administration seeks to increase Beijing’s pricing … Read more
Lee Sue Ann, Economist at UOB Group, suggests the RBA would hike the OCR by 25 bps at the June 7 meeting. Key Quotes “We recognise that a 40bps hike at this meeting is a close call, but this is not our base case. We see the RBA hiking by 25bps to 0.60% in Jun, … Read more
“US authorities are ready to implement a ban on imports from China’s Xinjiang region when a law requires it becomes enforceable later in June, a US Customs official said on Wednesday,” per Reuters. The news adds that a “very high” level of evidence would be required for an exemption, said the source mentioned. Key quotes … Read more
AUD/NZD has displayed a subdued performance despite the release of the aussie GDP. The quarterly and annualized GDP figures have landed at 0.8% and 3.3% respectively. Caixin Manufacturing PMI has been recorded at 48.1 higher than the forecast of 47. The AUD/NZD pair is trading lackluster in the Asian session despite upbeat Gross Domestic Product … Read more
Australia’s April Retail Sales have been released as follows: Aussie Retail Sales Australia April Retail Sales +0.9 pct m/ms/adj (Reuters poll +0.9 pct). Prior to the data, analysts at Westpac argued that card spending indicators suggested retail sales should sustain strong momentum (March +1.6%), but explained weakening consumer sentiment and elevated prices add downside. AUD/USD … Read more
Retail Sales overview Early Friday, the market sees preliminary readings of Australia’s seasonally adjusted Retail Sales for April month at 01:30 GMT. Market consensus suggests a downbeat MoM print of 0.9% versus 1.6% prior readings, suggesting the lack of sustained improvement in economic activity after positing the softer outcome in March. Given the recently mixed … Read more