INTEREST RATES – AUSTRALIA

Small lenders likely to follow majors up

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Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 16-Oct-15

Australia’s other three major banks have not yet increased their home loan interest rates in response to Westpac’s move. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank CEO Mike Hirst has indicated that the regional bank may increase its mortgage rates if the other "big three" do so, while Suncorp Bank, CUA and Firstmac may do so as well. Suncorp reduced its interest rates on some home loans on the same day that Westpac announced its rate increase.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, SUNCORP BANK, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, CREDIT UNION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FIRSTMAC LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

RBA urged not to cut interest rate

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 6-Oct-15

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s "shadow board" believes that the cash rate should either be left at two per cent for the next six months or increased. Shadow board member Mark Crosby says economic reforms such as tax cuts would do more to stimulate the economy than further rate cuts. He adds that more rate cuts may increase the debt problem in Australia. Crosby also says the growing expectation that rates will soon rise in the US should prompt the Reserve Bank to leave rates on hold.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

November RBA rate cut gains traction

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Original article by Rose Powell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 5-Oct-15

Data from Bloomberg shows that financial markets believe there is a 27 per cent chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia will reduce the cash rate by 25 basis points on 6 October 2015. Economists have cited factors such as the recent fall in the value of the Australian dollar and an improvement in business confidence as some of the factors that will influence the central bank’s decision. Citigroup anticipates a rate cut in November.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, BLOOMBERG LP, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

RBA needs to cut official interest rate to 1.5pc: ANZ

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 25-Sep-15

The ANZ Bank says Australia’s unemployment rate of 6.2 per cent is unlikely to fall significantly in the near-term due to factors such as slowing global economic growth and the uncertain outlook for the Chinese economy. Chief economist Warren Hogan warns that the unemployment rate could potentially rise over the next year or so. ANZ believes that a combination of factors means the Reserve Bank will have to reduce the cash rate in both February and May 2016.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

$A overshoots as iron ore export volumes up again

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Original article by Mark Mulligan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 10-Sep-15

The Australian dollar is trading at around $US0.70, having recently fallen to $US0.6896. However, Annette Beacher of TD Securities argues that the rebound in the iron ore price means the currency should be trading at the $US0.76 level. Meanwhile, Beacher says the Reserve Bank is likely to maintain the cash rate at two per cent in the wake of the currency’s recent downturn.

CORPORATES
TD SECURITIES, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED, GROUP OF TEN (G-10)

Investor rate rises prompt owner-occupiers to switch

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Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 3-Sep-15

A growing number of home loan customers are alerting banks they have changed their status from investor to owner-occupier. While they had no incentive to do so before, banks are now charging investors higher interest rates for the first time since the 1990s. The industry says the trend may involve thousands of customers, complicating the compilation of official statistics.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, YELLOW BRICK ROAD HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX YBR, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Reserve Bank calls out big banks on high credit card profits

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Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 20-Aug-15

The Reserve Bank of Australia says interest rates on credit cards, which spiked after the global financial crisis, have remained high despite the fall in the cash rate since then. Advertised rates have risen from 16 per cent eight years ago to about 20 per cent on standard credit cards. It is estimated the "spread" the banks earn on cards above the cost of funding them has risen from about six percentage points in 2007 to nine in the March quarter of 2015.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, RETAIL FINANCE INTELLIGENCE PTY LTD

Housing ‘fascination’ won’t make us rich

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 13-Aug-15

Almost 75 per cent of the increase in the ratio of net wealth to gross domestic product since the late 1980s is due to higher land prices. This is distinct from the value of houses built on that land, according to Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Philip Lowe, who claims Australia’s fascination with housing is in reality a fascination with land. He also concludes the obsession with property is not making the nation better off as a whole, with low interest rates implying low returns for savers and low underlying returns on assets.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Westpac’s $1m-a-day IT glitch

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Original article by James Eyers, Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 28-Jul-15

The Commonwealth and ANZ banks increased their mortgage interest rates for property investors in late July 2015, while cutting fixed interest rates for owner-occupiers. However, Westpac and National Australia Bank currently have a single reference rate for both types of customers, which has forced the latter to increase interest rates for both. Westpac’s IT systems do not allow it to charge different interest rates at present, which is said to be costing it about $A1.15m each day.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, BANK OF MELBOURNE LIMITED, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSSIE HOME LOANS LIMITED, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Dipping Australian dollar tipped to drop below US60c

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 21-Jul-15

Deltec International Group’s Atul Lele says further interest rate cuts and fiscal policy easing are needed in Australia due to the country’s uncertain economic outlook. He says the economic downturn in Canada is likely to be replicated in Australia, and forecasts that the Australian dollar will fall below the $US0.70 level by the end of 2015. He also warns of the potential for it to fall below $US0.60.

CORPORATES
DELTEC INTERNATIONAL GROUP, BANK OF CANADA