ECONOMIC INDICATORS – AUSTRALIA

Harvey Norman cooking with gas as housing booms

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Original article by Madeleine Heffernan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 9-Apr-15

Australian retail sales topped $A24bn in February 2015. Sales were 0.7 per cent higher than in January, and 0.4 per cent higher than the same period in 2014. UBS is upbeat about the outlook for homewares and furniture retailer Harvey Norman, due to its exposure to the residential property market. However, UBS has "sell" recommendations on grocery groups Woolworths and Metcash

CORPORATES
HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, INDEPENDENT GROCERS OF AUSTRALIA, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, AUSTRALIAN BUFFALO INDUSTRY COUNCIL

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence: Bumpy Ride for Confidence

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Apr-15

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia fell by 2.3 per cent to 109.7 in the week ended 5 April 2015, its lowest level in almost eight months. The weakness was broadly based, with four out of the five sub-indices declining. The sub-index for confidence in the economic outlook over the next year fell by 2.9 per cent, while confidence in the economic outlook over the next five years fell by 1.3 per cent

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence: Low Confidence Needs a Boost

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 31-Mar-15

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia rose by 0.8 per cent to 112.3 in the week ended 29 March 2015, its third consecutive rise. While consumer confidence is now 2.3 per cent off its February lows, it remains below its long-run average. The sub-index for confidence in the economic outlook over the next year rose by one per cent, while confidence in the economic outlook over the next five years rose by 3.1 per cent. These indices are now 4.6 per cent and 4.5 per cent higher respectively since the February interest rate cut

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

Living standards rise again

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 24-Mar-15

Research by the National Centre for Social & Economic Modelling at the University of Canberra shows that household incomes in Australia rose by 2.7 per cent in 2014. Meanwhile, the cost of living increased by just 1.4 per cent. The latter trend is the result of lower energy costs

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA. NATIONAL CENTRE FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC MODELLING, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Rainfall and tumbling dollar lift farmers to a four-year high

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Original article by Tim Binsted
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 23-Mar-15

A new survey by Rabobank shows that Australian farmers’ confidence has risen to its highest level since March 2011. Peter Knoblanche of Rabobank notes that farmers in New South Wales and Queensland have benefited from rain in January, which in turn has boosted cattle prices. The survey also shows that farmers are also generally upbeat about the outlook for the next year

CORPORATES
RABOBANK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NUFARM LIMITED – ASX NUF, ELDERS LIMITED – ASX ELD, GRAINCORP LIMITED – ASX GNC, AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL COMPANY LIMITED – ASX AAC

Affordability biggest risk, says Lend Lease

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Original article by Michael Bleby, Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 38 : 17-Mar-15

Housing affordability is an important factor in the Australian construction industry. Lend Lease CEO of property, Tarun Gupta, said on 16 March 2015 that affordability is currently at an acceptable level but should be closely monitored. Figures provided by CoreLogic RP Data show that house prices have risen by 7.6 per cent nationally over the past 12 months, and by 14.1 per cent in Sydney

CORPORATES
LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED

Radio toasts advertising renaissance

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 10-Mar-15

Data from Deloitte shows that advertising revenue for commercial radio stations in Australia’s five largest capital cities increased by 5.03 per cent during the first half of 2014-15. Australian Radio Network CEO Ciaran Davis attributes the rise to the defection of radio presenters Kyle and Jackie O. Commonwealth Bank media analyst Alice Bennett says the lower cost of radio advertising compared with TV was a key factor

CORPORATES
DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RADIO NETWORK PTY LTD, KIIS1065, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, 2DAY FM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COMMERCIAL RADIO AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NOVA ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FAIRFAX RADIO NETWORK PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, MACQUARIE RADIO NETWORK LIMITED – ASX MRN, COMMERCIAL ECONOMIC ADVISORY SERVICE OF AUSTRALIA, GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Australian unemployment jumps in February to 11.0% – highest since March 2014

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Mar-15

A Roy Morgan survey on Australia’s unemployment and under-employed shows that the real unemployment rate rose to 11 per cent in February 2015. This compares with an official unemployment rate of 6.4 per cent in January. The total workforce has fallen by 139,000 to 12,526,000 since February 2014, and the number of Australians who are under-employed has risen by 81,000 to 1,161,000 in the last 12 months. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says that to stand any chance of re-election in 2016, the Federal Government must look seriously at comprehensive industrial relations reform in in the May 2015 Budget

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Equity volumes soar on low rates

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 2-Mar-15

Data from IRESS shows that equity trading volumes in Australia rose by 15 per cent to $A438.9bn during the first two months of 2015. This is the highest level of trading activity for the first two months of the year since 2008, and the S&P/ASX 200 Index is close to breaching the 6,000-point level. Meanwhile, a number of companies are slated to undertake IPOs in the near-term, including MYOB, Fleetpartners and GenesisCare

CORPORATES
IRESS LIMITED – ASX IRE, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, MYOB TECHNOLOGY PTY LTD, FLEET PARTNERS PTY LTD, GENESIS CARE PTY LTD, TOUCHCORP LIMITED, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, CHI-X AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, VEDA GROUP LIMITED – ASX VED, EVOLUTION MINING LIMITED – ASX EVN, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, EUROZ LIMITED – ASX EZL, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE SECURITIES PTY LTD

Numbers add up for new millionaires

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Original article by Ruth Liew
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 2-Mar-15

Data from Investments Trends shows that the number of high net worth investors in Australia rose by 43,500 in 2014, to 443,500. They collectively control some $A1.6trn worth of investable assets. The nation also boasts 580,000 people with investable assets of between $A500,000 and $A1m. The research also shows that just 40 per cent of high net worth investors obtained professional advice in 2014

CORPORATES
INVESTMENT TRENDS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, ANZ PRIVATE BANK, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, COMMONWEALTH FINANCIAL PLANNING LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MACQUARIE PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB