Australian banks

By Leith van Onselen A day after its subsidiary, Bankwest, slammed the brakes on property investment lending for new customers, its parent, the CBA, has done likewise.

The keystone in the great Australian mortgage ponzi, Genworth LMI, reported today and it wasn’t terribly encouraging: All of that is serious matter of perspective.

Dalian is open and up a few points: Big Iron is still down with BHP -0.6%, RIO -02% and FMG -1.4%, it’s monster double-top firming a little: Big Gas is off again: Big Gold is going boom!

Via the AFR: Bankwest, a subsidiary of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, has slammed the brakes on property investment lending for new customers.

Dalian is roughly flat during the day: Big Iron is too: FMG has formed what could be a monster double top though it needs to fall through $5.80 to confirm it: Big Gas is off on Macquarie’s downgrade: Big Gold is in heaven again!

Via the AFR: Lenders are blaming rising wholesale and regulatory costs for a new round of increases in fixed and variable products by up to 60 basis points.

China is open again today and Dalian has returned limit down -6%.

Snooooooooooooooore: National Australia Bank is turning up the heat on rivals by making it easier for property borrowers to qualify for home loans amid concerns that red-hot property markets are beginning to boil.

Moody’s is out today with its arrears data for November last year and we’re going higher.

From Macquarie today: Elevated housing growth will become tougher to maintain Balance sheet growth continued to gain momentum at the end of 2016, largely underpinned by ongoing strength in investor housing volumes. Investor lending growth is currently tracking at ~9% (3m ann.) and approaching APRA’s 10% growth cap.

From S&P: The number of delinquent housing loans underlying Australian prime residential mortgage-backed securities fell in November 2016 from the previous month, according to a recent report by S&P Global Ratings.

Via Forex Live: From the Fitch Outlook report for the Australian banking sector.

I’ve long railed against the fact that the financials index (less property trusts), the XXJ, makes up over half the ASX200, with the big four banks holding over 30% by total weight.

It’s awn with Dalian grinding another 2% lower today triggering decent falls in Big Iron: FMG and WHC both looking very toppy.

We all know that Australia is secretly an emerging market (EM), characterised as it is by dodgy governance, a resources curse, rent-seeking, asset bubbles and weak external accounts.

Chinese bonds are bid a little today: And Dalian is flat: Under the surface, trouble still lurks, via Bloomie: Here’s another Chinese financial practice that’s prompting high-decibel warnings.

The Chinese bond-fire is rising again today and it is clearly a mini-crisis that could develop swiftly: Dalian is working it out: But not Big Iron.

From the cowardly S&P: The number of delinquent housing loans underlying Australian prime residential mortgage-backed securities increased in October from the previous month, according to a recent report by S&P Global Ratings.

Big Iron has bifurcated today.