Tag: Interest Rate

Australia’s services sector continues to contract as the Federal Government’s fiscal stimulus dries up and the Reserve Bank’s interest rate increases impact the services sector.

New home sales slumped to a 17 month low in June, adding further weight to the case for the Reserve Bank of Australia keeping interest rates on hold at their board meeting tomorrow.

With the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Producer Price Index figures coming in lower than expected, the chance of the Reserve Bank of Australia increasing interest rates in August has decreased with inflation likely to fall within the target 2-3 percent range tomorrow.

The services sector continues to contract, with a fall in new orders and decreasing selling prices keeping the services sector in negative territory in the June Performance of Services Index.

Australia’s banks may find themselves forced to cut discounts on home loan rates to avoid having to increase their standard variable home loan rates outside the RBA’s changes.

New housing construction is set to stall across Australia, with the brakes applied to the post-GFC recovery after a significant tightening of monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The June quarter 2010 ACCI-Westpac Survey of Industrial Trends showed a marked softening of manufacturers’ General Business Sentiment for the second half of 2010.

Auction clearance rates have collapsed in three of Australia’s largest markets, after successive interest rate increases from the Reserve Bank. Listings were also down in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

Australia’s services sector is showing its first signs of recovery despite increases in interest rates, with the AiG Performance of Services Index recording growth in April.

With the Reserve Bank increasing interest rates to 4.5 percent today, is this the last interest rate increase this year? Language in today’s official statement by Glenn Stevens suggests it might be.