Dearth of Imports Leads to Record Chinese Surplus
The continuing impact of Covid infections and lockdowns helped China report a record trade surplus of close to $US100 billion in June as exports did better but imports barely moved.
Read MoreThe continuing impact of Covid infections and lockdowns helped China report a record trade surplus of close to $US100 billion in June as exports did better but imports barely moved.
Read MoreRising inflation, rates and recession fears saw business confidence again fall in June while business conditions eased as well, according to the NAB’s latest monthly business survey.
Read MoreMay was a record month for Australian trade with a 20% rise in the size of the surplus from the high recorded in April, which was in turn 50% more than market forecasts.
Read MoreAs widely expected, the RBA lifted its key interest rate by 0.50% for a second time in a row on Tuesday, a decision that will be followed by home loan rate rises from the banks.
Read MoreApprovals for new dwellings rose in May, while housing finance steadied – neither of which is likely to change the Reserve Bank’s decision to raise rates again later today.
Read MoreWhile the looming rate rise hogs the local spotlight, the important US jobs figures on Friday and other start of month data releases will dominate thinking globally.
Read MoreActivity in China’s huge factory and services sectors in June grew for the first time in four months as the easing of Covid lockdowns in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities continued.
Read MoreThe strength of the jobs market was underlined on Thursday by data from the ABS showing the highest proportion of job vacancies to unemployed people yet recorded.
Read MoreNews that retail sales rose 0.9% in May to yet another monthly record will get the worrywarts calling for another big rate rise at the July meeting of the RBA next Tuesday.
Read MoreThe record $14.89 trillion total wealth figure for Australian households might be the high for a while given the slide in shares, property and other assets in the three months to June.
Read MoreSpeaking to the American Chamber of Commerce in Sydney on Tuesday, RBA Governor Phillip Lowe restated the bank’s willingness to do whatever was needed to rein in inflation.
Read MoreBudget tax moves have seen coal miners up in arms about a rise in royalties in Queensland, but Tabcorp is happy about the NSW Government’s changes to gambling taxes.
Read MoreAfter weeks spent urging central banks to boost rates as hard and fast as possible to get ahead of the inflationary curve, global markets suddenly seem to find the wish-fulfilment unpalatable.
Read MoreSurprisingly, given the negative impact of the Covid lockdowns on car production during the same period, Chinese steel production ran at well over 90 million tonnes in both April and May.
Read More61,000 new jobs were found last month and the jobless rate remained at a 48-year low of 3.9%, increasing the chances of another 0.50% or perhaps even 0.75% rate rise on July 2.
Read MoreChina’s economic activity for May didn’t go backwards as it did in Covid-hit April, neither did it soar, it was more a case of a not very convincing middle ground.
Read MoreAustralia’s lowest-paid workers will get a 5.2% pay rise but they, like millions of other employees, will still fall behind the soaring cost of living over the next year.
Read MoreThe NAB has cut its growth forecast and raised its inflation estimates for 2022 and 2023, but still believes a soft landing is the most likely outcome for the local economy.
Read MoreAhead of the US Federal Reserve’s increase in its key indicator rate, Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe gave a rare public interview between bank board meetings.
Read MoreConcerns about rising inflation and slowing demand dented business confidence in May. The NAB says conditions and forward orders both remain strong – but for how long?
Read MoreWhile markets will focus this week on central bank moves and US retail sales, locally the May jobs data and a couple of other releases will tell us how business is handling the rougher conditions.
Read MoreThe fragility in the Chinese economy wasn’t to be found in the exuberantly strong trade data and near-record surplus for May, but look a little closer and many worrying signs remain.
Read MoreBank stocks have taken a pounding in the past week and for now the market seems to be ignoring the positive impact rising rates have on bank revenues, earnings and net interest margins.
Read MoreChina’s May trade performance was better than forecast as the country’s trade surplus widened sharply, but inconsistency and broad concerns persist as the Covid threat lingers.
Read MoreAMP Chief Economist Shane Oliver believes greater sensitivity to higher interest rates will cap how much the RBA hikes to well below market expectations for a cash rate of 4% or more.
Read MoreIn its latest forecast for the global economy, the World Bank has slashed its growth forecast and warned some small and less developed economies face a rising risk of recession.
Read MoreThe RBA has followed its peers in the US and New Zealand, lifting its key cash rate by a large 0.50% to 0.85%, while making it clear increases will continue for some months to come.
Read MoreThe consensus for today’s rise in the Reserve Bank’s cash rate now seems to have shifted from 0.4% to 0.25%, which would put the key rate up to a somewhat untidy 0.60%.
Read MoreThe NSW government looks to have cleared the way for public service wages to rise by up to 3% and perhaps a bit more in the next two years, after a surprise announcement on Monday.
Read MoreA rate rise is guaranteed when the RBA meets tomorrow and, as was the case in the run-up to the May meeting, the speculation is about the size of the increase and those to follow it.
Read MoreWith inflation rising rapidly in most parts of the world and markets extremely jittery in response, Sequoia’s Blair Kirkhope has some thoughts on where investors should be looking at the moment.
Read MoreAustralian exports hit a new all-time monthly high in April, edging over the $50bn mark for the first time and helping the trade surplus exceed $10bn for the first time since January.
Read MoreAustralian economic growth slowed sharply in the March quarter from December’s multi-year high, but still managed to show a gain despite a constant flurry of adverse effects.
Read MoreThe slide in home building approvals slowed in April following the steep swings over the previous three months, with the 2.4% drop a far better outcome than March’s 19.2% slump.
Read MoreToday’s March quarter national accounts and GDP data will show growth slowing from the previous period, principally due to the surge in the value of selected imports.
Read MoreHours after data showed China’s economy remains in a contractionary phase, the government revealed a swag of policy changes designed to stimulate activity and turn it around.
Read MoreContrary to some reports about the current global economy, we are not on the cusp of a return to the 1970s inflation inferno. T. Rowe Price’s Nikolaj Schmidt explains why.
Read MoreAhead of the March quarter economic growth figures this week, data Friday confirmed that household consumption remained solid in April, even though inflation was clearly evident.
Read MoreGet ready for more gloomy news next week on the health of the Chinese economy with the manufacturing and service sector activity surveys likely to reveal no improvement from April’s sharp contraction.
Read MoreWall Street has fallen in behind the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish approach to bashing inflation lower with a series of 0.50% rate rises and seems ready to cop whatever the central bank delivers over the rest of 2022.
Read More