Lackluster Aussie capex numbers likely to disappoint

Capital expenditure: Australian mining capex still sliding, but services capex rising further. Australia is expected to report a continued downtrend in private capital expenditure in Q1 which likely declined by 0.7% QoQ after a 2.2% QoQ drop previously.

Further declines in mining investment look inevitable but investment in the services sector should increase further. The focus will be on the quarterly survey of investment plans, especially for the services sector, the first estimate of which showed a worrisome decline in the previous survey.

Construction work done in Australia declined more than expected in Q1, down 2.4% QoQ (median -1.4%, SG -0.2%) after a decline of 0.6% in Q4 (was -0.4%, then revised to -0.2%, now revised again).