The Aussie lost its status as the king of the major currencies this week, knocked lower as risk assets fell across the board thanks to rising bond yields.
Australian Headlines and Economic data
Monday:
Fitch Affirms Australia at ‘AAA’; Outlook Negative
“The Australian economy has weathered the pandemic well compared with peers. Fitch estimates real GDP contracted by 2.8% in 2020, against a ‘AAA’ median contraction of 3.8%.”
“We forecast the economy to expand by 3.8% in 2021 and 2.7% in 2022, driven by robust consumption as households draw down high accumulated savings from government relief measures.”
Tuesday:
Australia’s trade falls in January but surplus maintained
“Australia recorded a goods trade surplus of $8.8 billion for the beginning of 2021, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). January import of goods fell 10 per cent, while export of goods fell 9 per cent.”
Jobseeker to be raised by $50 a fortnight when coronavirus supplement scrapped
“The permanent $50 increase will begin on 1 April and will be applied to jobseeker, youth allowance, Austudy, Abstudy and parenting payments. It is expected to cost about $9bn over four years.”
Australia weekly consumer confidence continues decline: 109.2 vs. 109.9 prev.
Wednesday:
Australian construction work done fell 0.9% q/q vs. projected 1.1% gain
“Building work done rose 0.6% to $29,373.9m.”
“Engineering work done fell 2.8% to $21,796.6m.”
Australia’s wage price index up by 0.6% vs. 0.3% forecast
“Rose 1.4% over the year.”
“For the private sector rose 0.7% and for the public sector rose 0.3% in the quarter.”
Thursday:
Australia private capex climbs 3.0% in Q4
“Capex for buildings and structures rose 0.7 percent in the December quarter 2020, while capex for equipment, plant and machinery rose 5.7 percent in the December quarter 2020.”
Global government bonds hit by fresh wave of selling
“US 10-year Treasury yield jumps above 1.4% for first time since start of Covid crisis”
Friday:
Australian private sector credit rose 0.2% vs. expected 0.3% gain
