Economic and market news
In Australia, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Governor followed up the decision not to change official interest rates in April with a significant speech to explain his motivation in more detail. He noted particularly that the decision to hold rates steady this month does not imply that interest rate increases are over. He suggested that he expects that some further tightening of monetary policy may well be needed to return inflation to target within a reasonable timeframe.
However, he said that it was prudent to hold rates steady this month, given that monetary policy operates with a lag and so the full effect of the 3.50 per cent of increases in the past year is yet to be felt.
In related news, data show that consumer sentiment surged by 9.4 per cent in April after the Reserve Bank kept the cash rate on hold, according to a Westpac- Melbourne Institute survey. Confidence is now at its highest level since June 2022, although still 10.4 per cent below April 2022, the month before the RBA began raising the cash rate.
Australian indices
ASX 200: Rose 1.02 per cent this week, to close at 7309.9 points on Tuesday.
All Ordinaries: Rose 0.98 per cent in the week, closing at 7504.2 points on Tuesday.
Government Bonds
Government Bond Yields (Source: Bloomberg)
|
NAME |
COUPON |
PRICE |
YIELD |
1 DAY |
1 MONTH |
1 YEAR |
|
GTAUD2Y:GOV Australia Bond 2 Year Yield |
3.25
|
100.71 |
2.88% |
+5 |
-48 |
+75 |
|
GTAUD5Y:GOV Australia Bond 5 Year Yield |
2.25 |
96.65 |
2.96% |
+5 |
-43 |
+21 |
|
GTAUD10Y:GOV Australia Bond 10 Year Yield |
4.50 |
110.86 |
3.22% |
+4 |
-36 |
+21 |
|
GTAUD15Y:GOV Australia Bond 15 Year Yield |
3.25 |
96.06 |
3.55% |
+2 |
-31 |
+41 |
Reserve Bank of Australia (Source:RBA)
|
RBA CASH RATE TARGET (RBATCTR:IND) CURRENT (per cent) |
MOST RECENT DECISION (percentage points) |
MOST RECENT CHANGE (percentage points) |
1 YEAR PRIOR (per cent) |
|
3.60 |
No change (4 April 2023) |
+0.25 (7 March 2023) |
0.10 |
Currencies (source:RBA)
As at the close on 11 April, the AUD/USD had fallen 1.3 per cent in the week to 0.6666. The AUD/RMB also fell 1.3 per cent, in the period, to 4.5966.
Venture Capital
Cardihab
Stoic investee Cardihab announced that it and its partner Mater have been awarded $250,000 of funding by Advance Queensland and the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport to continue work to roll out a virtual cardiac rehabilitation program to regional Queensland communities.
Forcite
Stoic investee Forcite announced that it has raised $625,000 from its community crowdfunding initiative.
Jayride
Stoic investee Jayride published a market update for FY23 Q3, highlighting that the Northern Hemisphere summer is set to accelerate its growth.
Morse Micro
Stoic investee Morse Micro has been named as a finalist for Small Tech Company of the Year in the Global Business Tech Awards 2023! It was also named in the 2023 Big50 Hot Startup competition for its work in wireless and IoT.
Property
New data were said to show that house prices in over half of Sydney’s suburbs increased by more than 1 per cent in the past month.
