Corporate Australia: Alert, not alarmed
Corporate Australia: Alert, not alarmed Economic & Financial Trends Corporate Australia & COVID-19: CommSec has assessed earnings announcements of 155 of Australia’s largest companies to gauge the reaction to this year’s COVID-19 crisis. While a third of companies withdrew earnings guidance, only 10 per cent deferred dividends and around 5 per cent of companies cancelled…
Aussies unleash spending power
Aussies unleash spending power in record numbers Lending; Chinese inflation Home loans: The value of home loans fell by a record 11.6 per cent in May (consensus: -5.5 per cent) with owner-occupier loans down by 10.2 per cent and investor loans down by 15.6 per cent. Refinancing: A record $10.1 billion of owner occupier home…
ASX gains as Afterpay soars
The Australian share market has finished higher, propelled by solid gains by tech stocks Afterpay and Appen and gold prices hitting their highest levels in nearly nine years. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index moderated its gains towards the end of Thursday but still closed up by 35.2 points, or 0.59 per cent, at 5,955.5 points, while…
Rio Tinto closing New Zealand smelter
More than 1000 jobs will be lost as Rio Tinto closes an aluminium smelter on New Zealand’s South Island. New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS), at Tiwai Point near South Island’s southern tip, will close in August 2021 after a strategic review found the business unviable. The smelter uses alumina from refineries in Queensland and Western…
Businesses to prove JobKeeper eligibility
Tax officials have written to 8000 businesses that are believed to have claimed the JobKeeper wage subsidy despite not being eligible. The Australian Taxation Office is seeking further information from the businesses to verify their eligibility. “We are unable to pay businesses that do not meet the requirements of the law,” an ATO spokeswoman said….
Australia’s trade surplus rose 2pct in May
Australia’s trade surplus rose 2.0 per cent to $8.03 billion in May, as imports fell faster than exports. Exports dropped 4.0 per cent to $35.7 billion, while imports dropped 6.0 per cent to $27.7 billion, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday. Imports of consumption goods was steeply lower, down 14 per…
Is a global cyclical recovery underway?
China reported a June manufacturing PMI 50.9 vs. 50.5 consensus and non-manufacturing PMI 54.4 vs. 53.6 consensus. Cyclical currencies should outperform in an environment where investors are more focused on improving activity data than on more medium- to long-run structural concerns that are proving to be a headwind for high-carry FX Asia these days. The…
Investor Signposts: Week Beginning 29 June 2020
Australia: A new financial year commences The 2020/21 financial year commences mid-week with a slew of ‘tier-1’ data releases, including figures on home prices, building approvals, international trade, job vacancies, retail trade and purchasing manager indexes. The week kicks off on Monday when the Bureau of Statistics (ABS) releases its latest weekly “Household Impacts of…
ASX closes flat for 2nd straight day
The Australian share market has closed flat after losing ground in the morning, but recovering those gains in the afternoon. The S&P/ASX200 benchmark index finished on Monday up just 1.9 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 5,944 points, after being down 61.5 points shortly after the open and up 30 points in midafternoon trading. The…
Sydney Airport traffic down 97% in May
Sydney Airport has reported a 97.4 per cent slide in passenger traffic in May, following travel restrictions to check the spread of coronavirus. Australia’s biggest airport had total passenger traffic of just 92,000 passengers during the month, compared to 3.5 million a year ago. Of this, only 29,000 international passengers passed through its doors. May’s…
