ECONOMIC INDICATORS – AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Unchanged at 114.6

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Nov-14

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia was unchanged at 114.6 in the week ended 2 November 2014. The four-week average remains at its highest level since late April. Perceptions of household finances compared with 12 months ago rose by 0.9 per cent, and continues to point to a modest pickup in consumer spending. However, households’ expectations of the economic outlook over the next year fell by 5.8 per cent

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

Reserve Bank keeps interest rate mantra

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 5-Nov-14

The Australian dollar late in the trading on 4 November 2014 rose to $US0.8724 from $US0.8694, following news that the Reserve Bank of Australia was leaving the official cash interest rate unchanged. The board meeting earlier in the day resulted in the 14th consecutive non-adjustment of the 2.5% rate, and the central bank has signalled that this will remain the case until close to mid-2015. The high foreign exchange rate is a major reason, although there are concerns that the low cost of home mortgage borrowing is creating a residential real estate prices bubble. Inflation is benign but the terms of trade are worsening

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Sydney leads home listing surge

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Original article by Robert Harley, Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 41 : 5-Nov-14

Data from SQM Research shows that there was a 7.3 per cent increase in house and apartment listings across Australia during October 2014. This includes a 21 per cent rise in Sydney, where residential property values increased by 1.3 per cent during the month. Listings in Melbourne rose by just 2.6 per cent in October, and by 1.8 per cent year-on-year

CORPORATES
SQM RESEARCH PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Melbourne tops fastest list

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Original article by Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 4-Nov-14

New figures show that there was a one per cent rise in Australian house prices in October 2014. House prices in Melbourne recorded the strongest growth at nearly two per cent, ahead of 1.3 per cent for Sydney and 0.6 per cent in Brisbane. However, there was a 2.3 per cent decline in house prices in Hobart and an 0.1 per cent fall in Perth. Nationally, house prices have risen by 8.9 per cent in the last year

CORPORATES
RP DATA LIMITED, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSSIE HOME LOANS LIMITED

NSW wrests No. 1 spot from WA

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Original article by Will Glasgow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 20-Oct-14

The latest quarterly "State of the States" report from CommSec shows that New South Wales (NSW) now boasts Australia’s strongest state economy. Factors such as growth in housing starts and population prompted NSW to replace Western Australia at the top of the rankings, and Savanth Sebastian of CommSec believes that NSW could retain top ranking for the next year. Victoria is ranked fourth, behind the Northern Territory

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, PALMER UNITED PARTY, NORTHERN TERRITORY. DEPT OF THE CHIEF MINISTER, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Bumping Along Average Levels

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Oct-14

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia fell by 1.0 per cent to 112.6 in the week ended 5 October 2014. Consumer Confidence has now been broadly steady for eight consecutive weeks, sitting around its long run average. There has been a 3.7 per cent decline in households’ perceptions about their current financial situation compared with 12 months ago, and a 2.4 per fall in households’ expectations of their financial situation in 12 months’ time

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

Online retailers stay upbeat

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Original article by Jessica Sier
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 7-Oct-14

Australian online retailers have reported strong growth and are positive about the outlook for Christmas spending. Overall retail spending rose by only 0.1 per cent in August 2014, with spending in retail stores falling by 2.9 per cent. Milan Direct founder Dean Ramler said that his company’s sales rose by 51 per cent in September compared with the previous year. The Catch Group co-founder Gabby Leibovich said that his group’s sales rose by 26 per cent in the September quarter

CORPORATES
MILAN DIRECT PTY LTD, CATCH GROUP PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, CATCH-OF-THE-DAY.COM.AU, SCOOPON.COM.AU PTY LTD

US, Britain at fore as foreign investment rises 11.3pc

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Original article by Rowan Callick
The Australian – Page: 18 : 2-Oct-14

New data from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade show that during 2013 the value of overseas investments grew 11.3% to $A2.5trn. Of this figure, $A630bn was accounted for by direct investments, and the largest sources were the US with $A35bn, Singapore with $A14bn, the UK with $A12bn and Japan with $A10bn. However, China expanded its share by 43% to reach $A5bn. Meanwhile Australian investment overseas was worth $A1.6trn. It fell 4.1% in the year, while foreign direct investment in Australia was also down 5.3%

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Lend Lease still busy

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 26-Sep-14

Lend Lease gained $A4.94bn worth of construction contracts in 2013. This ranks it first on the Housing Industry Association/Cordell Construction list of the nation’s 100 largest contractors. Thiess and Brookfield Multiplex rounded out the top three, with $A2.88bn and $A2.51bn worth of contracts respectively. Multi-dwelling residential projects accounted for 20.7 per cent of contracts awarded to top 100 companies in 2013

CORPORATES
LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, CORDELL BUILDING INFORMATION SERVICES, THIESS PTY LTD, LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LEI, BROOKFIELD MULTIPLEX LIMITED, BGC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, LEIGHTON CONTRACTORS PTY LTD, ABIGROUP LIMITED, BAULDERSTONE PTY LTD, MERITON APARTMENTS PTY LTD, PARKVIEW GROUP, ICON CONSTRUCTION AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Battle lines shift in war for online

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 25-Sep-14

Australian consumers are continuing to embrace online shopping, with the websites of major retailers enjoying strong growth in traffic during 2013-14. Data from Hitwise and UBS shows that there was a 250 per cent increase in visits to Woolworths’ grocery website, compared with 240 per cent growth in visits to Coles’ website. Visits to the websites of JB Hi-Fi and Dick Smith rose by 150 per cent and 80 per cent respectively

CORPORATES
HITWISE PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, DICK SMITH HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX DSH, COUNTRY ROAD LIMITED, DAVID JONES LIMITED, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, ASOS.COM LIMITED, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, DAN MURPHY’S, LIQUORLAND (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS BUNNINGS LIMITED