DXY is flopping around like a dead fish. AUD is back near the top of its rising channel. Lead boots are floating higher. Two shorts? Metals grinding higher. Miners yuk. EM meh. Junk OK. The steepener steepens. Stocks love a good bombing. All together now to the Beach Boys “Bomb, bomb, bomb…bomb, bomb Iran. Bomb,
As the G7 meeting in Canada gets underway, the headlines are still dominated by the Israeli-Iranian war with the potential for a ceasefire pushing European and US stocks higher overnight. The USD was able to gain some lost ground but remained quite mixed against the currency majors with news of a potential trade deal
Australia’s superannuation concessions need to be adjusted to make them more equitable and sustainable. According to the Australian Treasury, superannuation concessions cost the federal budget around $60 billion in foregone revenue in 2024-25 and are expected to grow rapidly. Concessions on contributions cost the federal budget $30,950 billion in FY25, rising to $36,750 billion in
It was disappointing to see the Queensland’s Liberal-National government oppose exporting more gas to Victoria, claiming that it doesn’t have the gas supply capacity to keep “bailing out Victoria’s bad decisions”. Queensland Natural Resources Minister Dale told The AFR that his state would refuse to divert further supplies south and blamed the critical energy constraints
The Israel-Iran war continues to dominate risk markets as the new trading week gets underway here in Asia with share markets quite mixed while there has been a slight bit of strength in USD over the weekend gap, but still far from a proper safe haven bid. With all eyes on the Middle East conflict,
Following one of the largest increases in the industrialised world during the Covid-19 pandemic, New Zealand’s housing prices fell sharply. According to the REINZ home price index, presented below by Justin Fabo from Antipodean Macro, New Zealand’s real inflation-adjusted home prices have reverted to pre-pandemic levels. Separate data provided this month by Cotality reported that
It is a long-held belief of many in the Labor Party. Today it has morphed into doubts about AUKUS. Labor stalwart Sean Kelly. AUKUS, with its pros and cons, commands many column inches in this country; periodically it becomes the central topic of political debate, as it did last week. Similarly, there is much discussion
ANZ has a good idea. Property construction will decline another 30% to 580 million m2 by 2035 in our baseline scenario. Over 50% of new demand will stem from upgrading, instead of urbanisation. Urban renewal is unlikely to contribute much to the sector. Property rent rather than property price will be crucial to stabilise the
Santos runs two LNG export trains out of Gladstone, Queensland, which siphons up East Coast gas and ships it to Asia (mostly China). Since Santos’ LNG export trains came online in 2015 (alongside others), the volume of gas produced on the East Coast has doubled, while 25% less gas has been supplied to domestic users.
Policy makers and economists are concerned that the retirement of the Baby Boomer generation and an ageing population could see the nation’s workforce heavily diminished in the future. For example, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers warned in January 2023, just as immigration was ramping to record levels, that longer life expectancy and a sharp decline in