ECONOMIC INDICATORS – AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence remains upbeat despite ‘Brexit’ jitters – now at 116.8

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Jun-16

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell 1.9 per cent to 116.8 in the week ending 26 June 2016, only partially offsetting the rise the previous week. Despite the turmoil in global financial markets – driven by the surprise result in the UK referendum – households remain optimistic about their finances and the economic outlook. Last week’s easing in confidence was largely driven by a deterioration in consumers’ views towards the economic outlook. The indicator on "finances compared to a year ago" fell 2.3 per cent, and views towards "economic conditions in the next 12 months" fell nine per cent.

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence spikes to 118.8 – highest in 2 1/2 years

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 21-Jun-16

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 2.1 per cent to 118.8 in the week ending 19 June 2016, and it now stands at the highest level since November 2013. Good news released last week about the Australian labour market and the business sector is likely to have lifted sentiment. The increase in confidence was broad-based, with consumers’ views about their finances leading the gains. The indicator on "finances compared to a year ago" rose 3.1 per cent, and views towards "economic conditions in the next 12 months" increased by two per cent.

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

Nation’s home values fall for first time in 14 quarters

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 22-Jun-16

Residential property prices in Australia’s eight capital cities fell by 0.2 in the March 2016 quarter, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The index of dwelling values had not fallen since the September 2014 quarter. There was an 0.8 per cent decline in the value of attached dwellings compared with the December 2015 quarter, including a fall of 0.6 per cent in Sydney. Paul Bloxham of HSBC expects a sharp fall in house price growth in both Sydney and Melbourne in the near-term.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BELLE PROPERTY PTY LTD, SAVILLS CORDEAU MARSHALL

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rebounds

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Jun-16

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 3.2 per cent in the week ending 5 June, more than offsetting the 2.2 per cent decline of the previous week. Consumer confidence now stands at 116.8, the highest level since January 2014. The improvement in consumer confidence was likely driven by the solid GDP report released last week. The increase in confidence was broad-based, with consumers’ views of the economic outlook leading the gains. Views towards "economic conditions in the next 12 months" bounced a sharp seven per cent, and views towards "the economy in the next five years" rose 3.5 per cent.

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

Australian unemployment is up 0.3% to 10.7% in May; Under-employment down 0.3% to 7.4%

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

A Roy Morgan Research survey on Australia’s labour market has found that the real unemployment rate rose by 0.3 per cent to 10.7 per cent in May 2016. The number of people in the workforce has fallen by 27,000 to 12,783,000 (although up 293,000 since May 2015), and 11,414,000 Australians are employed (up 213,000 in the last 12 months). Meanwhile, the number of people who are under-employed has fallen by 74,000 in the last 12 months to 947,000 (7.4 per cent of the workforce). The official unemployment rate was 5.7 per cent in April 2016. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says that with the federal election a month away, both sides of politics continue to base their economic modelling on the wrong ABS unemployment data and because of this they will not advocate the correct policy reforms that need to be undertaken to "free-up" the Australian labour market. Stimulating real growth in the economy is the most effective way to create jobs for unemployed and under-employed Australians.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence – Consumers cringe as confidence drops to 113.2

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 31-May-16

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia fell 2.2 per cent to 113.2 in the week ended 29 May 2016, partially reversing the 3.6 per cent increase over the previous four weeks. Confidence remains just above its long-run average (+0.4 per cent). The fall last week was largely driven by concerns about the economic outlook. Consumers’ views towards their current finances rose 0.7 per cent, but consumers’ views towards their future finances fell 4.7 per cent.

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

Sydney home prices lead way with 3.4pc surge

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 31-May-16

Data from CoreLogic shows that the capital city-average house price index rose by 1.6 per cent in May 2016, compared with 1.7 per cent in April. The data also shows that house prices in Sydney increased by 3.4 per cent in May, although SQM Research’s Louis Christopher believes that prices are growing at a slower pace. Meanwhile, Housing Industry Association data indicates that there was an 8.1 per cent decline in sales of new homes in New South Wales during April.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SQM RESEARCH PTY LTD, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

National accounts, US data to steer market sentiment

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Original article by Mark Mulligan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 30-May-16

Futures traders expect the Australian sharemarket to gain 23 points when trading resumes on 30 May 2016, after the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed above 5,400 in the previous trading session. Local economic figures to be released in the coming week includes current account and GDP data for the March quarter, while investors will also be awaiting the release of key US economic indicators, including the latest wages and consumer confidence data.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, BLOOMBERG LP, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE, SECURITIES INDUSTRY AND FINANCIAL MARKETS ASSOCIATION

Alarm over debt to GDP ratio

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 30-May-16

Analysis by Morgan Stanley suggests that each additional $A1 of GDP in 2015 cost more than $A9 of debt to generate. Morgan Stanley economist Daniel Blake says Australia must find ways to generate economic growth that are less dependent on debt. He warns that the decline in the productivity of Australia’s debt is likely to increase the severity of any economic downturn that may occur. He also argues that tax incentives should encourage investment in innovation and business start-ups rather than residential property.

CORPORATES
MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Capex collapse as mining investment boom unwinds

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Original article by Daniel Palmer
The Australian – Page: 31 : 27-May-16

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has reported that capital expenditure on buildings and equipment fell by 5.2 per cent in the March 2016 quarter, compared with expectations of a 3.5 per cent decline. Capex in the mining sector fell by 12 per cent and non-mining capex was down 0.4 per cent. Meanwhile, the latest figures show that capex is forecast to total $A89.2bn in 2016-17, compared with a previous forecast of $A82.6bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED