Australia & New Zealand Data Response Labour Market (May) The surge in employment in May is unlikely to be sustained as the softness in economic activity limits employment growth. We expect the unemployment rate to rise to 5.3% before the end of the year. 13th June 2019 · 1 min read
DM Valuations Monitor Valuations unlikely to keep supporting equities this year We do not think that the valuations of equities are unsustainably high. Nonetheless, we still expect that stock markets in the US and in the rest of the developed world will slump later this year... 7th June 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Economic outlook is subdued regardless of tariffs Our forecast that the housing downturn would weigh on economic activity and force the RBA to cut rates was proven right this week. And given recent data suggest there is considerable spare capacity in... 7th June 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response International Trade (Apr.) The smaller trade surplus in April largely reflects commodity price movements so we expect net trade will still make a positive contribution to growth in Q2. 6th June 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA may have to cut rates to 0.75% We think that today’s 25bp rate cut may be followed by two additional rate cuts before the year is out. Combined with renewed falls in iron ore prices, that suggests that the Australian dollar may... 4th June 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Retail Sales (Apr.) The fall in retail sales in April demonstrates that the housing downturn is continuing to weigh on consumption growth. And we expect subdued consumption growth will continue to dash any hopes of a... 4th June 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack Unemployment rates to rise The deterioration in the New Zealand and Australian economies is starting to flow through to a softening in the labour market. Admittedly, employment growth in Australia has risen to the highest rate... 3rd June 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response CoreLogic House Prices (May) We expect the pace of house price declines to gradually ease this year with house prices reaching a trough by the end of the year. We suspect house prices may start to rise again thereafter, by 3% in... 3rd June 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Businesses remain cautious Business investment probably dropped again in Q1 and with business confidence remaining weak we think private investment will continue to decline over the rest of 2019. By contrast, we suspect the... 31st May 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Private Capex Survey (Q1) Private investment probably fell for the third consecutive quarter in Q1 and firms’ forecasts point to further declines over coming quarters. 30th May 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Focus House prices may rebound in early 2020 We expect the current housing downturn to end around the turn of the year. We think that house prices may rise by 3% from their trough in 2020 and by 5% in 2021. While rising house prices should boost... 29th May 2019 · 1 min read
RBA Watch Rates may fall to 0.75% The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has telegraphed that it will cut interest rates to 1.25% in June and we think it will follow up with another 25bp cut in August. But we suspect that further easing... 28th May 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Outlook for housing market has brightened Proposed changes by Australia’s bank regulator will increase the maximum loan size for some borrowers. While that is unlikely to bolster housing demand much at this stage, as the RBA lowers interest... 24th May 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA won’t launch QE anytime soon The RBA has made it clear that quantitative easing is its preferred tool once interest rates reach the effective lower bound. But we suspect that the Bank would first cut interest rates from their... 21st May 2019 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update What does the Coalition victory mean for Australia? The Coalition government’s surprise victory in the Australian federal election won’t make much of a difference for fiscal policy in the near-term but will result in smaller surpluses beyond 2022. It... 20th May 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update What does the Coalition victory mean for Australia? The Coalition government’s surprise victory in the federal election won’t make much of a difference for fiscal policy in the near-term but will result in smaller surpluses beyond 2022. It also... 20th May 2019 · 1 min read