ECONOMIC INDICATORS – AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence consolidates to 118.1

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 3-Oct-18

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 0.8% to 118.1 in the week ended 30 September, reversing the fall of 0.7% in the previous week. Households’ views towards current financial conditions rose 0.7%, its third consecutive weekly gain. Sentiment towards future financial conditions fell 1.2%, only partially reversing the previous week’s 2.4% rise. Sentiment towards current and future economic conditions rose by 2.1% and 1.3% respectively, after both indices fell in the previous week. The "time to buy a household item" sub-index increased by 1.3%, compared to a fall of 4% in the previous week.

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

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence consolidates to 117.2

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Sep-18

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell 0.7 to 117.2 in the week ended 23 September, partially reversing the rise of 1.5% in the previous week. Households’ views towards current financial conditions improved 3.5%, building on the gain of 3.7% the previous week. Sentiment towards future financial conditions rose 2.4%, more than reversing the 0.4% fall in the previous week. However, sentiment towards current and future economic conditions fell 1.9% and 3.0% respectively. The "time to buy a household item" sub-index declined by 4%, compared to a rise of 2.3% in the previous week.

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

Inflation Expectations for employed Australians lower than a year ago

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 24-Aug-18

Australians aged +14 expect inflation of 4.3% per year over the next two years, according to the Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations Index for August 2018. This is unchanged on a month ago, but down 0.2% from August 2017. Inflation Expectations have now tracked in a narrow range between 4.3-4.5% for 14 straight months. Inflation Expectations remain well below the eight-year average of 5.0%. Analysis by employment status shows that Inflation Expectations for employed Australians dropped to 3.9% in August 2018, down 0.4% on a year ago. In comparison, Australians who are not employed – including retirees, students, those on home duties, those choosing to not work and the unemployed – increased by 0.1% to 4.9%. August Inflation Expectations are based on a nationwide face-to-face survey of 4,385 Australians aged 14+.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Technology’s part in the puzzle of why wages won’t rise

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Sep-18

The Reserve Bank still anticipates a gradual increase in wages growth, according to the minutes of its monthly board meeting. Meanwhile, independent economist Geoff Weir has suggested that the rate at which companies adopt new technologies is contributing to the low growth in wages. The central bank will publish a paper by Weir in which he notes that companies which act more quickly to embrace new technologies tend to enjoy higher productivity and profits, with some of these gains being passed on to employees via wage rises.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence bounces to 118.0

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Sep-18

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 1.5% to 118.0 in the week ended 16 September, more than reversing the prior week’s 1.3% fall. Households’ views towards current financial conditions improved 3.7%, partially reversing the 4.8% fall in the previous week. Sentiment towards future financial conditions fell 0.4% following three straight weekly rises. Households were a touch less optimistic about current economic conditions (down 1.2%), although sentiment towards future conditions improved by 3.3%. The "time to buy a household item" subindex reversed its 2.3% decline in the previous week to remain unchanged over a two-week period.

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

Dole rise costly, good for economy

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 2 : 18-Sep-18

Chris Richardson of Deloitte Access Economics notes that Australia has one of the highest minimum wage rates in the world, yet its unemployment benefits are among the lowest. Modelling undertaken by Deloitte on behalf of the Australian Council of Social Service has concluded that increasing the Newstart payment by $75 per week would boost the economy by around $A4bn overall, despite an initial cost to the Budget of $3.3bn a year. The Newstart payment has not changed in two decades when accounting for inflation.

CORPORATES
DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE

Wage rises outpacing living costs

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 18-Sep-18

Labour market economist Mark Wooden says that Australia has recorded 31 per cent growth in wages over the last decade, while inflation has increased by just 22 per cent over this period. The director of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Australia survey notes that the cost of living has not increased significantly in the last year, with big rises in the cost of petrol and electricity being offset by lower prices for some consumer goods. Professor Wooden adds that the HILDA data shows that income inequality has eased slightly in recent years. The HILDA survey is conducted by the University of Melbourne with interviewing conducted by Roy Morgan.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Business Confidence in August hit by political uncertainty

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Sep-18

Roy Morgan Business Confidence was down 3.4 points (-3%) to 110.2 points in August. However, analysing Business Confidence throughout August shows Consumer Confidence before August 20 was 115.0 points, while it plunged to 99.5 points during the last third of the month beginning the week of the leadership challenge (August 20-31, 2018). In August, Business Confidence remained below its level of a year ago and is now 4.2 points lower than in August 2017 and 6.1 points below its long-term average of 116.3 points. However, despite now falling for four consecutive months, Business Confidence throughout the first eight months of 2018 has averaged 116.6 points – above the long-term average and the highest yearly average since 2014. Businesses remain largely positive in August with a majority of businesses, 50.5% (unchanged) expecting ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next five years and nearly half, 47.8%, saying now is a ‘good time to invest in growing the business’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Worrying sign investment has peaked

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 31-Aug-18

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has reported that business investment fell by 2.5 per cent in the June quarter; economists had been tipping an increase of 0.6 per cent. Mining sector spending was down 7.2 per cent over the quarter, while non-mining investment declined by 0.5 per cent. However, companies increased their business investment forecast for 2018-19 to just under $102 billion, an increase of 16.1 per cent on the last forecast three months ago.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED, TD SECURITIES, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, BIS OXFORD ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Townhouses rise as approvals fall

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 31-Aug-18

New building approvals fell by 5.2 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms in July when compared to June, according to official figures released on 30 August. Approvals for detached dwellings declined in all mainland states except Queensland, while townhouse approvals increased by 3.9 per cent. Townhouse approvals for the 12 months to July totalled 36,423, compared to 34,256 approvals for the 12 months to August 2016. In comparison, approvals for high-rise apartments have declined from 76,947 in the 12 months to August 2016 to 65,478 in the 12 months to July 2018.

CORPORATES
POLY GROUP CORPORATION, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP