Economics

Despite unemployment rising above pre-pandemic levels, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s sturdy monetary policy stance will not change.

China has its own customs regarding gold, with buying gold during the Lunar New Year holiday being a notable tradition. Historically, the precious metal has traded at a premium to global prices in China around these holidays, which coincide with the peak season for retail demand.

Investors observing China have noted some recent positive trends. China's exports have begun to increase, bolstering economic growth despite a prolonged downturn in the property market and sluggish consumption.

This was our first trip post COVID to Asia and was a particularly unique trip given the events between visits.

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The rally in the US dollar witnessed earlier this year has reversed course as investors anticipate a decline in inflation in the world's largest economy, potentially providing the Federal Reserve with greater flexibility to cut interest rates.

Gold went for another record-breaking run on Monday but couldn’t hang on to the new peak, while copper managed to retain its gains.

China’s key industrial production may have bounced by a larger-than-expected annual 6.7% in April, but it did so without any help from the country's key steel sector.

President Xi Jinping had his opportunity to make a dramatic statement about new help for the country’s economic black hole—AKA housing and property—and tanked it on Monday.

How desperate do you think the Chinese government and the Communist Party are to staunch the escalating losses in the country’s biggest black hole—housing and property?

The Dow starts this week on new ground after the record close on Friday left the best-known US market index above the 40,000 level for the first time in history.

A big week for commodities—one of the biggest in months—with metals surging and oil ticking a touch higher for a smorgasbord of factors, from Gaza and Ukraine to Chinese property issues, along with expectations of interest rate cuts in the US, Europe, and Australia.

Rate cuts, mood changes, and volatile commodity prices—especially copper and gold—are on the agenda alongside the release of central bank board meeting minutes from the Fed and the Reserve Bank, early results of the May survey of business activity in major economies, and 17 speeches or public appearances by senior Fed members in the US over the next five days. However, amidst this busy business schedule, the most significant event of the week remains the quarterly financial report for the first quarter.

Talk about a brave move—President Biden’s attack on the Chinese electric vehicle markets is nothing but a load of hot air; real Alice Through the Looking Glass material. Putting tariffs on something that is not there will have no impact whatsoever.

Warren Buffett’s $US6.7 billion move into the smaller insurer Chubb, controlled by a long-time family friend, dominated this week’s final quarterly data drop from the world’s most followed investor. Safe to say, the new investment is what investors focused on.

Chinese EV maker Li Auto is reportedly undergoing massive layoffs as sales fall short of budget and the price war intensifies. Chinese media reports say the cuts could be as high as more than 18% of its 31,000 workforce.

US stocks may have had a great opening on Wall Street Thursday, but they didn’t end well, the green (and record for the Dow) ending in the red. However, for the retail giant Walmart, it was a record-setting day as earnings and revenue topped all forecasts, belying gloom about weak consumer demand.

Wall Street enjoyed a nice bounce Wednesday after US inflation edged down to 3.4% in April, and retail sales slowed by more than many analysts had forecast.

The economic forecasts of the 2023-24 federal budget have already experienced a miss, with March quarter wages growth slowing more sharply than forecast. This was attributed to the first fall in private wages in over three years and a slump in public service increases.

CSR (ASX:CSR) has reported higher profits from its building products business but a loss from aluminum for the year ending March 31, its last results as a listed company. The company is being taken over by Saint-Gobain, the large global building products group based in France, for $US4.32 billion.

The recession in the global lithium and battery materials markets has finally hit home in China, with BYD, the world’s biggest maker of electrified vehicles, postponing a key project slated for Chile.

So, the cash will be spent, the surplus run down, and deficits of more than $70 billion in 2024-25 and 225-26, but all this as consumers retreat into their shells.

Even though the Fed has made it clear there will be no rate rise until it is really convinced that inflation is falling sustainably, big global investors are ignoring that and are off in their own world of 'Rate Cuts Loom.'

Ahead of Tuesday’s federal budget, the Australian economy eased in April, with business conditions and confidence back around long-term readings, but retail still remains very weak.

Private equity group Anchorage Capital Partners has stunned investors, including ARN, with its shocking decision to drop out of the bid for Southern Cross Austereo. This move will likely kill the $250 million offer.

A solid finish to the stock markets on Friday, but today will see a more circumspect ASX re-open.

China's consumer prices rose for a third straight month in April, while producer prices extended their declines, as cost pressures remained mixed across a stuttering economy.