ECONOMIC INDICATORS – AUSTRALIA

Investor home loans on the rise as building approvals hit peak

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 11-Nov-16

Lending to residential property investors increased by 4.6 per cent to $A12.4 billion in September 2016, from the previous month. Lending to owners-occupiers, excluding refinancing of existing mortgages, declined slightly to $A13 billion. Jo Masters, a senior economist at the ANZ Bank, says house prices continue to rise, auction clearance rates are high and building approvals are also high, but this trend may not be sustainable.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY FORUM, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence Rebounds – up 3.7pts to 117.8

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Nov-16

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 3.2 per cent to 117.8 in the week ended 7 November 2016, entirely offsetting the decline over the previous two weeks. The bounce in consumer confidence was underpinned by a strong rise in the economic outlook sub-indices. Households’ view on economic conditions over the next 12 months jumped a sharp 7.8 per cent while views towards economic conditions over the next five years rose 5.2 per cent. Meanwhile, consumers’ views towards their finances compared with a year ago rose a solid 3.0 per cent, while households’ views towards their current finances edged 1.7 per cent higher

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Business Confidence up slightly in October to 116.2 (up 1.1%) on the back of renewed strength in primary industries Agriculture & Mining

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Nov-16

Roy Morgan Research’s Business Confidence rose 1.1% to 116.2 in October 2016. The small rise in Business Confidence occurred even though the Australian All Ordinaries fell during October – the All Ordinaries ended October at 5,402.40 (down 122.8pts from September 30). However, this fall was concentrated in the last week of the month (the All Ordinaries lost 120.9pts between October 25-31) and has fallen further in early November – now at 5,330.9 (November 7). This month’s small rise in Business Confidence means Business Confidence is now just below the 6yr average (116.6) and slightly below the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence October rating of 118.5.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence edges higher, but details remain soft

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Nov-16

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence edged 0.4% higher in the week ending 30 October 2016, after a sharp fall in the previous week. Consumers’ views towards their future finances bounced a solid 4.3%, but that only partially offset the sharp drop the previous week. Meanwhile, views towards finances compared to a year ago declined for the fifth week in a row, down 1.1%. Households’ view on the economic conditions over the next 12 months dipped a sharp 3.2%, while views towards economic conditions over the next 5 years fell 1.6%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Banks on S&P negative watch over hot property

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 & 15 : 1-Nov-16

Factors such as rising household debt and residential property prices have prompted Standard & Poor’s to downgrade Australia’s economic risk trends. The firm has also downgraded the credit rating outlook of 25 local lenders to "negative". S&P downgraded the major banks’ rating outlooks to "negative" in mid-2016, but it has not yet made any further changes. However, their "AA-" credit ratings could be reviewed, particularly if Australia implements new global regulations regarding bank bailouts.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Widening wage gap blamed on bias

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 28-Oct-16

KPMG Australia has released a report which concludes that gender discrimination accounted for 38 per cent of the gap between the wages of men and women in 2014. This compares with 35 per cent in 2007. The report also notes that 30 per cent of the pay gap is due to the fact that more men tend to work in certain industries, in which the wages are typically higher than those for industries where women are over-represented. Workplace Gender Equality Agency director Libby Lyons stresses the need for action to address the gender pay gap.

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY AGENCY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence drops 3.6% to 113.6

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Oct-16

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell 0.3 per cent to 113.6 in the week ended 23 October 2016. The fall was largely driven by a deterioration in consumers’ views toward future financial and economic conditions. Consumers’ views towards their current finances edged down 0.2 per cent, while views towards finances over the next 12 months dropped 7.1 per cent. Households’ views of current economic conditions fell 2.7 per cent, while views towards economic conditions over the next five years fell 4.9 per cent.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rises 0.3% to 117.8

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Oct-16

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence edged up 0.3 per cent to 117.8 in the week ended 16 October 2016, reversing the 0.3 per cent fall last week. While the headline index has changed little over the past two weeks, there has been considerable variation in the sub-indices. Consumers’ views towards their current finances fell by 2.4 per cent, while views towards future finances rose one per cent. Households’ views of the 12-month economic outlook rose by 0.4 per cent, while views of the five-year economic outlook rose by 0.1 per cent.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Metro TV hit hard by advertising slowdown

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 21 : 18-Oct-16

Australia’s advertising market has recorded overall growth of 1.6 per cent so far in 2016, although data from Standard Media Index shows that advertising expenditure declined by 4.6 per cent during September. Metropolitan free-to-air TV advertising fell by 8.9 per cent in September, while the overall TV ad market was down 7.7 per cent. The Seven Network boasted a 38.9 per cent share of the metropolitan ad market, ahead of the Nine Network with 35.9 per cent.

CORPORATES
SMI MEDIA INCORPORATED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, IPG MEDIABRANDS

Property sentiment strengthens despite negatives

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Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 41 : 13-Oct-16

The ANZ/Property Council Survey of real estate and construction industry sentiment for the third quarter of 2016 shows an improvement of two percentage points in confidence. A net 29 per cent of property and construction executives and investors are optimistic about the prospects for the property sector over the next 12 months, compared with 27 per cent in the previous quarter. An improvement in confidence occurred in all states except Queensland and South Australia.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH