Beijing sends 7.5pc of investment our way

Original article by Rowan Callick
The Australian – Page: 20 : 17-Sep-14

Australia received about 7.5 per cent of China’s total outbound investment in the first half of 2014. This was worth about $A2.6 billion. PricewaterhouseCoopers said that two mining deals accounted for 88 per cent of the investment. China’s total outward investment rose by 40 per cent to $A35 billion. The investment focus has moved to real estate, hi-tech and telcos, which have risen from one per cent to 36 per cent of total overseas investment

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

Visitors spend $30b

Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 4-Sep-14

A survey by Tourism Research Australia shows that there was an eight per cent increase in international visitors to the nation in 2013-14. The 6.1 million international visitors spent a record $A30.1bn during their time in Australia, which is seven per cent higher than previously. Tim Quinn of Tourism Research Australia notes that the number of nights international visitors spent in Australia fell during the financial year

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TOURISM RESEARCH AUSTRALIA, TOURISM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TTF AUSTRALIA LIMITED TOURISM AND TRANSPORT FORUM, TTF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

National income pie shrinks

Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 4-Sep-14

New figures show that there was an 0.4 per cent decline in Australia’s real net national disposable income during the 2013-14 financial year. This followed a 1.6 per cent decline in 2012-13, and it is the first time since the early 1990s that national income has fallen in two successive years. Meanwhile, wages rose by 1.3 per cent in 2013-14, while there was 0.5 per cent growth in GDP during the June 2014 quarter

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Fall in exploration spending sets off alarm bells

Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 2-Sep-14

New data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show expenditure on exploration by resources groups during the three months ending 30 June 2014 declined 7.5% to $A444m seasonally adjusted. Association of Mining & Exploration Companies CEO Simon Bennison warns of the long-term negative impact of the drop on the economy overall. The drilling services sector is already being affected

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BOART LONGYEAR LIMITED – ASX BLY, ASSOCIATION OF MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANIES, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Australians’ Inflation Expectations fall to 5.0% (down 0.3%)

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 26-Aug-14

A face-to-face Morgan Poll has found that Australian inflation expectations over the next two years fell by 0.3 per cent to five per cent a year in July 2014. This is also 0.3 per cent lower than in June 2013. Analysis by federal voting intention shows that Coalition supporters have the lowest inflation expectations, at four per cent, compared with 5.2 per cent for Australian Labor Party supporters. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says the most important policy priority for the Federal Government is to reduce Australia’s high level of unemployment and under-employment if it is to stand any chance of winning the 2016 election

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MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, PALMER UNITED PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Commercial space returns up on 2013

Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 35 : 14-Aug-14

The latest data from the Property Council of Australia and IPD shows that industrial, retail and hotel properties delivered an average return of 9.7 per cent in 2013-14. This is 50 basis points higher than in 2012-13. IPD’s Anthony De Francesco anticipates that returns will top 10 per cent in the 2014 calendar year. However, the All Property Index data also shows that the total return on commercial property eased to 8.9 per cent

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PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, IPD, INVESTMENT PROPERTY DATABANK

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Fails to Consolidate Recent Gains

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Aug-14

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia fell by 5.7 per cent to 108.5 in the week ended 10 August 2014. Consumer confidence is now back below its long-run average. There was a 9.1 per cent fall in households’ perceptions about economic conditions in a year’s time, and an 8.9 per cent fall in perceptions about economic conditions in five years’ time. The ANZ Bank still expects growth in consumer spending to remain moderate in 2014, before improving in 2015

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

Confidence lifts but jobs lag

Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 21 : 13-Aug-14

The latest data compiled by National Australia Bank on the nation’s businesses, excluding agriculture, show that both confidence and trading conditions improved in July 2014. The latter are now at levels last witnessed in 2010, while sentiment is at the best reading since the global financial crisis. New Australian Bureau of Statistics figures also indicate residential real estate prices growth of 10.1% for 2013-14. However the jobless rate for July was up as well, to 6.4%. This was the worst result in a dozen years

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NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Drop in unemployment figures mask the job losses recorded in July – Australian workforce in contraction

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

A Roy Morgan Research survey on Australia’s labour market has found that the real unemployment rate fell by 0.4 per cent to 10.2 per cent in July 2014. The workforce fell by 141,000 to 12,367,000 in total, and the number of people who were underemployed fell by 109,000 to 8.7 per cent. The nation’s official unemployment rate was six per cent in June. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan notes that July was the 26th straight month in which more than one million people were unemployed, as well as the 32nd successive month in which more than two million people have been either unemployed or underemployed

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Interest rates in state of suspension

Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 6-Aug-14

Riki Polygenis of the ANZ Bank says the Reserve Bank of Australia is likely to adopt a cautious approach to tightening monetary policy given the state of the economy. The central bank left the cash rate unchanged on 5 August 2014, and its monetary policy statement largely reiterated the views that were expressed in the previous month. Meanwhile, new data shows that the nation’s trade deficit blew out to $A4.8bn in the June quarter

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED