Net overseas migration into New Zealand has collapsed to a 2½-year low and is tracking around half the historical average. The slump in immigration has worked wonders for housing affordability, with home prices and rents declining amid weaker demand. Real house prices in New Zealand have crashed back to pre-pandemic levels, while mortgage rates have
The Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA), which took effect in 2005, was a bad deal for Australia that favoured the United States at our expense. The Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University (ANU) analysed AUSFTA and discovered that a decade later, the agreement had diverted more trade than it created.
Honestly, if everybody is happy to take this, then they deserve it. AFR. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out watering down foreign investment rules despite criticism from Beijing but reassured Chinese gas companies that supply contracts won’t be cancelled should the government establish an east coast gas reservation. Chinese fears over a potential threat
This is fun. The rationales being proffered for this are silly. Steel production has rebounded in China, driven by accelerating accumulation of building materials, robust manufacturing demand and sustained strength in steel exports, broker Galaxy Futures said. Key steel producing regions Shanxi and Tangshan have started implementing output restrictions, Galaxy said. Although it is the
Victorians are suffering an acute case of Stockholm Syndrome regarding the state Labor government. Victoria’s nine-month lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic was one of the longest and most severe in the world. It was also brought to us by the state government, whose incompetence with hotel quarantine and harsh enforcement should have scared voters away.
DXY is up and away. AUD appears to have locked in its double top. There may be a pop on Chinese yawnulus, but I expect disappointment. Sacking Powell is the only hope now. Lead boots are plodding downhill. Metals meh. Same same. Big mining bear locked in. EM is running against DXY. Junk funk. Long
Another data drive night with Wall Street pushed to record highs amid an expected initial jobless print and a slightly higher than expected retail sales print, which could have been affected by the inflationary push of tariffs. The USD gained against all the majors except gold with Treasury yields remaining high especially on the long
As China’s property sector continues to deteriorate with each passing day, reports of renewed stimulus for the sector emerge every few months from the Chinese press or policymakers. Each time it’s like watching an infomercial on daytime television: “It’s new. It’s improved. It’s better than ever.” Then, like many mail-order products that claim to achieve
Australians have experienced a record 6.1% decline in their real wages. Worse, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) own forecasts suggest that real wages will only recover to December 2011 levels by mid-2026, by which time they will still be tracking 5.7% below their mid-2020 peak. Thursday’s labour force data for June, released by the
Currency markets pivoted to Asian releases today with the jump in local unemployment and a fall in Japanese exports hitting both the Australian dollar and Yen respectively. The Trump regime’s trade war is continues with “framework deals” for India and Europe the next hand-waving “framework” that is being floated while actual free trade deals outside