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Written by: Ryan Love
Monday, 02 May 2011

Global markets (in particular in the US) rebounded strongly in April.  However, the Australian share market was flat with concerns of a high Australian dollar and uncertainty surrounding implementation of the proposed carbon tax.

The All Ordinaries Index retreated 0.6% in April to close at 4,899 points.  Global markets were all higher with the Dow Jones Index gaining 4.0%, the FTSE gaining 2.7%, the Hang Seng gaining 0.8% and the Nikkei 225 gaining 1.0%.

Written by: Ryan Love
Monday, 18 April 2011

Residential land sales dropped to their lowest level in at least a decade as the cost of blocks increased, a newspaper reported.

The Housing Industry Association RP Data residential land report showed that the volume of land sales dropped to about 11,500 lots in the three months to Dec 2010 from 12,500 in the previous quarter.

The slumping volumes of lot sales come as the weighted price of a residential lot increased 4.1% to $194,161 nationwide.  

Written by: Ryan Love
Monday, 04 April 2011

Inflation accelerated through March as a series of floods and a category-five cyclone in Queensland continued to drive up prices for fruit and vegetables, according to the TD Securities-Melbourne Institute Monthly Inflation Gauge.

The TD-MI inflation gauge rose 0.6% in March, following a 0.2% increase in February and 0.4% rise in January.

Written by: Ryan Love
Monday, 04 April 2011

Demand for workers remained strong through the first quarter of 2011, defying floods, fire, storms and a surging dollar.

The total number of job advertisements in newspapers and on the internet rose 1.3% in seasonally adjusted terms in Mar from Feb, ANZ Bank, which compiles the data, said. Job ads over the first quarter were up 5.4% from the prior quarter.

Despite the worst flooding on record in Queensland in Jan and a category-five storm in February, the northern state, famous for its tourism and mining, saw job ads drop 2.9% in Mar, after a 32.6% rise in Feb.

Written by: Ryan Love
Sunday, 03 April 2011

The Japanese earthquake and tsunami disaster dominated financial market news in March. 

The All Ordinaries Index fell by as much as 7% at the height of nuclear concerns at the Fukushima power plant.  The good news was that the Australian share market recovered strongly in the last week of the month and closed up 0.1% at 4,928.6 points. 

Global markets (excluding Japan) followed a similar trend with the Dow Jones Index gaining 0.8%, the FTSE falling 1.4% and the Hang Seng gaining 0.8%. 

Written by: Ryan Love
Wednesday, 30 March 2011

An index of job vacancies for skilled workers rose 0.6% in Mar from Feb, but was 10% down from a year ago, the Department of Employment & Workplace Relations said.

The index currently stands at 41.6. Vacancies are counted on the first Saturday of every month. The declining on-year trend is expected to continue as employers move to online advertising and away from newspaper advertising, the department said in the report.

Written by: Ryan Love
Thursday, 17 March 2011

Manufacturing conditions have recovered smartly from a range of negative factors that dogged the sector in the latter part of 2010, a new survey shows.

Business confidence has jumped to a record high, while worries over a strong Australian dollar, rising interest rates and a slowdown in the housing market appear to have receded into the background for now.

Written by: Ryan Love
Wednesday, 16 March 2011

The north-east region of Japan has sustained damage estimated at around US$180bn (3.3% of GDP) with the area representing about 8% of Japan’s economy.

Japan is the world’s third largest economy, with GDP of around US$5.4 trillion, representing about 9% of the global economy. While Japan is a significant economy, it has not been a major contributor to global growth in recent years.

Written by: Ryan Love
Wednesday, 16 March 2011

The total number of houses and apartments that started construction in the fourth quarter of 2010 fell 5.3% to a seasonally adjusted 37,897 from the third quarter.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics also reported that the number of private-sector houses started in the fourth quarter fell 8.0% from the previous quarter to 23,342. The trend estimate for the total number of housing starts, which further smoothes the seasonally adjusted numbers, fell 4.6% from the third quarter to 38,375.

Written by: Ryan Love
Tuesday, 15 March 2011

The value of personal finance in Jan fell 9.5% after seasonal adjustment from Dec to $6.90bn, the ABS said.

The decline in personal finance comprised a 14.5% fall in revolving credit and a 4.5% fall in fixed lending.

Commercial finance fell 5.8% in seasonally adjusted terms to $30.94bn. A fall of 9.7% in revolving credit for commercial finance was accompanied by a fall of 4.0% in fixed-lending commitments. The use of commercial finance for purchasing dwellings for rent or resale fell 4.6%.

Lease finance fell by 1.3% after seasonal adjustment to $434m.