Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Consumer Confidence (Oct.) The Westpac measure of consumer confidence leapt to its highest level in a year in October, which was a welcome sight given the recent run of weak data on household spending. That said, we remain... 11th October 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Retail Sales & International Trade (Aug.) The net result of the retail sales and international trade data for August isn’t a disaster for the overall economy. But the weakness in retail sales supports our long-held view that a slowdown in... 5th October 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response New Zealand GDP (Q2) The 0.8% q/q rise in the production measure of GDP in the second quarter won’t prevent the RBNZ from leaving interest rates at 1.75% at next Thursday’s policy meeting and striking a dovish tone too... 21st September 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response ABS House Prices (Q2) Even though house price inflation on the ABS measure held steady at 10.2% in the second quarter, there are some signs beneath the surface that prices have started to lose momentum. Other forward... 19th September 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Labour Market (Aug.) The age-old volatility of Australia’s jobs data has given way to a remarkable period of consistency, with the 54,200 leap in August marking the eleventh rise in as many months. That’s the longest run... 14th September 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Consumer Confidence (Sep.) The Westpac measure of consumer confidence edged up in September, but it remains low by historical standards and is consistent with a slowdown in the annual rate of consumption growth from 2.6%... 13th September 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Retail Sales & International Trade (Jul.) The stagnation in retail sales and the fall in the international trade surplus in July suggest that GDP growth in the third quarter will be weaker than the second-quarter’s 0.8%. With households’... 7th September 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia GDP (Q2) The 0.8% q/q rise in GDP in the second quarter overstates the health of the economy as it needs to be taken in context of the weak first quarter. The underlying rate of growth is probably more like 0... 6th September 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Private Capital Expenditure Survey (Q2) The private capital expenditure survey for the second quarter suggests that the recent rises in business confidence may soon translate into a bit more investment. A decent rise in business investment... 31st August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Labour Market (Jul.) The recent run of chunky rises in employment is helping to cushion the blow to households’ finances from record low wage growth. The past volatility of the data suggests it’s wise not to get too... 17th August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Wage Price Index (Q2) The stagnation in wage growth at the record low of 1.9% in the second quarter supports our view that the low wage, low inflation climate will mean the RBA won’t raise interest rates next year as the... 16th August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Consumer Confidence (Aug.) The fall in consumer confidence to a 16-month low in August widens the disparity between glum households and gleeful businesses. With confidence at a level consistent with a slowdown in consumption... 9th August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response International Trade (Jun.) The fall in the trade surplus from a record high of $4.6bn in December to just $0.9bn in June is not a disaster as a lot of it is due to lower prices rather than lower export volumes. But the recent... 3rd August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Consumer Prices (Q2) The RBA will probably look through the decline in headline inflation in the second quarter, especially given that underlying price pressures were slightly stronger than it had anticipated. That said... 26th July 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Labour Market (Jun.) The surge in full-time jobs in June is likely to fuel growing expectations that the RBA will begin to raise interest rates by the first half of 2018. But despite this latest improvement there is still... 20th July 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response New Zealand Consumer Prices (Q2) The weaker tone of the inflation data for the second quarter has already caused the New Zealand dollar to weaken back below US$0.73 and the dollar may yet fall below US$0.70 as the markets realise... 18th July 2017 · 1 min read
