Friday, 7 May 2021

Data not dates?

Data not dates

Just the first inkling of hawkishness from the Reserve Bank's Debelle yesterday?

The Reserve Bank of Australia has repeatedly stated that here will likely be no interest rates moves before 2024, at the earliest, including at its Board meeting earlier this week.

And yet...

The full speech from Debelle you can see here, where it was underscored that rising house prices are not to be targeted by monetary policy.

Meanwhile, the data does continue to improve apace, with iron ore exploding to a record high $201.88/tonne (62% Fe) overnight, reflecting strong steel prices and an escalation of political tensions between Australia and China.

Nothing much changing any time soon, but one to watch over the second half of the year if the unemployment rate does fall towards 4½ per cent. 

Roy Morgan Research noted that employed figures progressed to record highs according to their April surveys as 13.29 million, despite the winding back of the Federal Government's JobKeeper program.