Hold on to your hats as the month
Consequential month and quarter-end rebalancing following over steepest YTD drawdowns in bond markets in decades could push implied rates and equity market volatility higher over the next week. But with CPI inflation yet to peak in the major economies, higher highs in yields look set to follow in Q2 beyond the hope for any near-term…
ANZ’s crypto coin helps buy digital assets
SYDNEY, AAP – ANZ Bank has created a cryptocurrency that a customer has used to transfer $30 million in minutes and avoid currency conversion fees. The bank on Thursday revealed it had a created a stablecoin linked to the Australian dollar for use by customer and family business Victor Smorgan Group. A stablecoin is a…
Australian shares at two-month high
SYDNEY, AAP – Australian shares have traded higher as gains on Wall Street buoyed sentiment, resulting in broad increases across the mining and energy sectors. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 32.1 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 7419.2 at 1200 AEDT on Friday, hitting its highest level in more than two months. The All…
Qld housing crisis hits regional employers
BRISBANE, AAP – Jobs in regional Queensland are going unfilled and businesses are cutting hours because there is nowhere for new employees to live, chambers of commerce across the state say. The difficulty in finding housing has a disproportionate affect in regional areas, and the flow-on effect means some employers are offering wage incentives or…
Workers in driver’s seat on wage demands
CANBERRA, AAP – Low unemployment, high vacancy rates and growing cost of living pressures have put workers in the driver’s seat when it comes to salary demands. A survey by consultants Robert Half found just over four in five employers think candidates for new jobs have become more demanding when it comes to negotiating salary…
Federal budget improves in red-hot economy
CANBERRA, AAP – A stronger-than-expected economy, a falling unemployment rate to historic lows and a commodity price boom as the result of the Russia-Ukraine war has the revenue dollars rolling in for Josh Frydenberg’s fourth budget. The treasurer will present the budget on Tuesday, and just days out from Prime Minister Scott Morrison calling what…
A US Olive Branch to China
MARKETS US equities were weaker Wednesday, S&P down 1.2%. US10yr yields fell back 9bps to 2.29%. Oil up 5.1% after Russia indicated it had temporarily limited capacity on a significant pipeline after storm damage. As traders digest higher yields and higher inflation signals via the oil price channel, stocks are lower. We may see volatility…
Childcare, housing, thorns in country life
ORANGE, AAP – Samantha Burns felt a strong pull back to country Australia. “I just couldn’t get it out of my being,” the businesswoman tells AAP. Ms Burns had been planning to return to her rural roots for years, and looked to move from Sydney to Orange, in central west NSW, in 2019. But two…
Wall St drops amid oil rally, war concerns
NEW YORK, RAW – All three major US stock indexes have ended more than one per cent lower as oil prices jumped and Western leaders began gathering in Brussels to plan more measures to pressure Russia to halt its conflict in Ukraine. Responding to sanctions that have hit Russia’s economy hard, President Vladimir Putin said…
Star let junket with laundering risk go on
SYDNEY, AAP – An agreement with a junket operator linked to Asian triad gangs was renewed despite a high risk of money laundering taking place in the private room where they operated in Star’s Sydney casino. Agreements between the casino and the Suncity junket operator that brought foreign high-rollers in to gamble forbade the group…
