Texture from Reuters: Steel output was also curtailed by poor profits at mills. Besides surging iron ore prices that have pressured steel firms this year, analysts also noted that output from electric arc furnaces has been affected by higher scrap steel prices. “The price for steel scrap increased by almost 100 yuan ($14.30) per tonne
DXY eased last night as EUR firmed: The Australian dollar was put to the sword versus DMs: And EMs: Gold bounced: Oil fell: Metals were crushed: But miners did better as iron ore bounced on Pavlovian stimulus hopes: EM stocks were soft: Junk was fine: Bonds roared: Stocks were soft: There was not much in
By Chris Becker Overnight risk markets are in retracement mode as the USD also falls against all the majors except the commodity proxies as Aussie, Kiwi and Loonie remain subdued. European stocks fell as bond yields dropped everywhere except in Italy, while oil prices are not moving as the latest inventory report surprises with a
In the week ended 14 November 2019, the CoreLogic 5-city daily dwelling price index, which covers the five major capital city markets, surged another 0.34%: The rise in values was broad-based, but driven by Sydney followed by Melbourne: Quarterly dwelling values continue to rise strongly, driven by Sydney and Melbourne, where prices are rocketing: The
CoreLogic’s head of research, Tim Lawless, has released interesting research on the boom in new mortgage commitments since the May Federal Election: Since moving through a trough in May, the value of new owner occupier home loan commitments has increased by 17.3% through to the end of September and the value of investor loan commitments
The Morrison Government’s regional visa incentives, which provides five extra points towards permanent residency and allows international students to stay for up to seven years, has driven a surge in enrolments into Tasmania and South Australia: Data from the International Education Association of Australia shows that student commencements in Tasmania were up by 35 per
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Wework loses $1.3 billion against topline of $934M ahead of aborted IPO – Bloomberg Is retirement dying? The old work model is disappearing for boomers, Gen Xers – USA Today Global Economy ‘Breakdown’ Seen Putting More Workers at Risk of Slavery – VOA News Google reportedly offering checking accounts
Stocks are generally down across Asia with only local issues rising due to the fall in the Aussie dollar as the latest unemployment print undershot, sending interest rate expectations down with it. The risk off mood hasn’t been helped by a slip in Chinese industrial production numbers alongside retail sales. Chinese stocks are diverging in
So says the FT: Demonstrators and police officers are experiencing a kind of epiphany when they realise there are no repercussions for smashing the thin veneer of civility. As a consequence, the range of acceptable behaviour has widened dramatically and the most brazen and outrageous actions are becoming normalised. This is fed by social media
Via News, this does not read well for anybody: A group of 23 former fire and emergency chiefs tried repeatedly for several months to warn Scott Morrison and senior government ministers of a looming bushfire crisis. Had they been successful in their requests for a meeting, the group would’ve urged authorities to immediately lease aerial
Earlier this week, we learned that construction insolvencies are booming, according to ASIC: Insolvencies in the $150bn residential and non-residential construction industry remain at a high level… insolvencies in the three months to September jumped 78 per cent in Victoria, 41 per cent in Queensland and 7 per cent in NSW. This was a significant
Via Justin Smirk at Westpac:: The October Labour Force Survey surprised with a –19.0k decline in employment – the market median was for 16k while the lowest forecast in the range was +7k. It was a surprisingly soft update all the more so for while the participation rate eased back to 66.0% from 66.1%, as
Not me, that’s for sure. The ABC investigates: Claiming victory on election night six months ago, Scott Morrison said it was “the Quiet Australians who have won a great victory tonight”. “It has been those Australians who have worked hard every day, they have their dreams, they have their aspirations; to get a job, to
Amazing data again from China in October. All weak: Industrial Production 4.7% Fixed Assets Investment 5.2 % Retail Sales 7.2% All part of the relentless slowing: Under the bonnet, the all important real estate sector continues a near one man band super effort. Sales are still weak: So are developer land purchases though they have
Last weekend, CoreLogic released its preliminary auction clearance rates, which revealed the following results: Today, CoreLogic has released its final auction results, which reported a 1.4% decline in the final national auction clearance rate to 72.0% – well above the same weekend last year (43.3%) and above last week’s 68.0%: As you can see, Sydney’s
Via the AFR: Under sweeping new rules, universities will have to fully disclose who they’re working with on research projects and all financial dealings with other countries and donors, as the federal government demands action against “corrupting” foreign interference. Amid concern about China’s influence in universities that have become heavily financially dependent on foreign students, research projects
Welcome to the future at the AFR: Sweden’s central bank said on Thursday (AEDT) it had sold off bonds from the oil-rich Canadian province of Alberta and parts of Australia because it felt that greenhouse gas emissions in both countries were too high. Riksbank Deputy Governor Martin Floden said the bank would no longer invest
More today from the BofAML fundie survey: 1. The bulls are back…global recession concerns vanish and “Fear of Missing Out” prompts wave of optimism and jump in exposure to equities & cyclicals. 2. We say…easy part of rally over, tougher part of rally beginning…but rally it can as no “excess greed” (BofAML Bull & Bear
As summarised earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released its labour force report for October, which registered a 19,000 decrease in total employment and an increase in the headline unemployment rate (from 5.2% to 5.3%). In trend terms, the unemployment rate was steady at 5.3%: Again, total employment fell by a seasonally adjusted
In today’s webinar (Thursday 14th November), hear from MB Fund’s Head of Investment Damien Klassen, Tim Fuller and expert energy analyst David Leitch as they “Untangle the Energy Market.” Topics this week include the death of Coal, if 100% renewable is a viable path for Australian Energy, which energy-based stocks have potential, the viability of
Via the FT: A Chinese-backed joint venture has secured the rights to develop Simandou, one of the world’s biggest untapped deposits of steelmaking ingredient iron ore. The award to the SMB-Winning consortium, whose investors include Chinese aluminium producer Shandong Weiqiao and the Yantaï Port Group, brings the development of a mine a step closer. Simandou
New data released from the federal government shows that graduate employment outcomes have dipped from last year: In 2019, 72.2 per cent of undergraduates were in full-time employment four months after completing their degree, down by 0.7 percentage points from 72.9 per cent in the previous year. The overall employment rate for undergraduates was 86.8
SQM Research MD Louis Christopher expects growth in housing prices in Australia’s capital cities to average 11% in 2020. The latest edition of Christopher’s Housing Boom and Bust Report forecasts that dwelling prices in Melbourne will rise by up to 15%, while Sydney’s housing market will record growth of 10%-14%. However, Christopher says the housing
The Australian dollar has been mashed by the falling jobs anvil: As bonds roar back: Stocks loved it: But not Big Iron: Nor Big Gas: Or Big Gold: Not even Big Zombie: Or Big Realty: There must be a few soaring bond proxies somewhere!
Via Damien Boey at Credit Suisse: The Westpac consumer confidence report for November registered more improvement. After 3 rate cuts, tax cuts, the announcement of first home-buying incentives, and credit easing, consumer confidence was looking particularly dire by October, falling well below neutral levels. It looked very much like consumers were responding to the bad
Via the ABS: OCTOBER KEY FIGURES Sep 19 Oct 19 Sep 19 to Oct 19 Oct 18 to Oct 19 Trend Employed people (‘000) 12,923.4 12,935.7 12.3 2.1% Unemployed people (‘000) 720.6 722.4 1.8 6.4% Unemployment rate (%) 5.3 5.3 0.0 pts 0.2 pts Underemployment rate (%) 8.5 8.5 0.0 pts 0.2 pts Participation rate
Sydney’s water storages are plumetting at a faster rate than was experienced during the 2000s Millennial Drought, which was said to be the worst drought in Australia’s recorded history: This has authorities concerned that Sydney could soon face “day zero” – a time when the city runs out of drinking water: Sydney’s water storage levels
Check out the below chart from yesterday’s June quarter wage data from the ABS: As you can see, Victoria is way out in front on wage growth, recording wage rises of 2.8% over the year to September. Now check out the next chart showing wage growth across Australia’s various public sectors: As you can see,
Via RBA sock puppet, Terry McCrann: Everyone seems to expect and many indeed lust for the Reserve Bank to embark on quantitative easing — printing money, but not for you but for the top end of town — except the only guys, non-gender specific, that matter. Those in the building at the top of Martin
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and again and expecting a different result, then Aussie economists are bonkers, at Domain: BIS Oxford chief economist Sarah Hunter said the wage figures were dismal, adding they meant the RBA would have to take official interest rates down to 0.5 per cent next
