Economic and market news
At its meeting yesterday, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Board decided to leave the official policy rate unchanged at 4.10 per cent, for the fourth month in a row. The statement by the new Governor, Michele Bullock, was taken by commentators as ‘flagging’ that there will likely be at least one more interest rate rise before the RBA is comfortable that inflation is under control and returning to the 2-3 per cent target in a timely way.
New data released in the week confirmed expectations that price pressures remain in the Australian economy. They show that CPI inflation rose in August to 5.2 per cent. This acceleration from 4.9 per cent for the 12 months to end-July was said to have been due to price changes in items such as fuel, fruit and vegetables, and holiday travel. It was reported that the measure of ‘underlying’ inflation that excludes these ‘volatile’ items slowed to 5.5 per cent in August from 5.8 per cent for the 12 months to end-July.
Australian indices
ASX 200: Fell again this week (3.52 per cent), dropping through the 7000-point threshold to close at 6943.4 points on Tuesday.
All Ordinaries: Also fell (3.43 per cent), closing at 7141.0 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 |
0.25
|
92.24 |
4.09% |
+2 |
+31 |
+64 |
|
GTAUD5Y:GOV Australia Bond 5 Year Yield |
2.75 |
93.52 |
4.16% |
+2 |
+40 |
+47 |
|
GTAUD10Y:GOV Australia Bond 10 Year Yield |
3.00 |
87.61 |
4.54% |
+5 |
+55 |
+65 |
|
GTAUD15Y:GOV Australia Bond 15 Year Yield |
3.25 |
83.33 |
4.76% |
+5 |
+52 |
+67 |
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) |
|
4.10 |
No change (3 October 2023) |
+0.25 (6 June 2023) |
2.60 |
Currencies(source:RBA)
As at the close on 3 October, the AUD/USD had fallen over this week, down 01.53 per cent, to 0.6316. The AUD/RMB also fell, down 1.69 per cent in the period, closing at 4.6094 on Tuesday.
Venture Capital
Ferronova
Stoic investee Ferronova has shared that two of its team members, Melanie Nelson and Aidan Cousins, have supported UNSW’s research into innovative synthesis of magnetic particles for use in biomedical imaging, with a 2.7-fold enhancement in signal intensity compared to the industry standard.
Jayride
Stoic investee Jayride has announced that it has partnered with TCT Travel via their B2B technology software, Traviola, to bring airport transfers to a wide range of travel wholesalers, OTAs and tour operators. Through Jayride's platform, agents will be able to easily compare and book from over 3,700 reputable transportation companies with transfer options from more than 1,600 airports worldwide.
Property
New data show that Australian house prices have now recorded eight consecutive months of growth. The 0.8 per cent increase in September means that, cumulatively, housing prices have increased 6.6 per cent from the January lows, despite more interest rate increases. The average price level is now only 1.3 per cent below the records set in April 2022.
