Pipeline of Australia’s housing construction work likely to slow in 2016
Apr 04, 2016 05:40 am UTC| Commentary
In February, Australias residential building approvals rose moderately by 3.1% m/m, as compared with Januarys decline of 6.6% m/m. The month-on-month increase greatly reflects the permits for high-density housing that grew...
Australia’s retail sales momentum slowed, onus on private consumption to lift overall growth
Apr 04, 2016 05:38 am UTC| Commentary
The momentum of Australias retail sales has definitely decelerated in the past three months. In February, the nations retail sales were flat and weaker than expected. This is the third continuous month where Australia has...
Australian bonds gain on weak economic data, RBA easing likely
Apr 04, 2016 05:31 am UTC| Commentary
The Australian 10-year bond gained on Monday on weak economic data, increasing further scope for RBA monetary easing. The benchmark 10-year bonds yield, which is inversely propositional to bond price dipped 6 bps to 2.471...
Asian markets start the new week on a positive note, Gold slides below $1220
Apr 04, 2016 03:21 am UTC| Commentary
All the Asian markets are trading on a positive note on Monday after US released positive NFP results but on the other hand, unemployment rate rose to 5.0% vs 4.9% previous release. Gold remains well supported below...
RBA to remain on hold at next week's policy meet
Apr 01, 2016 15:53 pm UTC| Commentary
The Reserve Bank of Australia is set to release its third policy statement for 2016 on Tuesday, 5th April and markets largely expect the central bank to leave the official cash rate unchanged at its record low of 2.00%,...
Upbeat Chinese PMIs show signs of stabilization, but do not confirm a sustained rebound
Apr 01, 2016 15:07 pm UTC| Commentary
Chinas official manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) came in at 50.2 for March, above a forecast of 49.3 from a Reuters poll, returning to growth for the first time since July. A similar improvement was seen in...
PBOC discloses currency forward positions for the first time
Apr 01, 2016 14:35 pm UTC| Commentary Central Banks
PBoC for the first time disclosed its short foreign-currency positions in forwards and futures. As of end-February, it held USD28.9bn of such positions with commercial lenders and USD2.4bn worth of total long...