Wednesday: RBA holds rates

The RBA holds but is ready to act if inflation doesn’t come down. Australian consumer and business confidence hold steady. And Singapore’s economy grew faster than first thought last quarter.

In our deep-dive interview, ANZ Head of Australian Economics Adam Boyton analyses the RBA’s latest forecasts for clues on rates.

5 things to know in 5 minutes:

1. The Reserve Bank of Australia held rates yesterday, as expected, at 4.35%. ANZ Head of Australian Economics Adam Boyton has three key takeaways from the decision.

2. Ahead of the rate call, ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence was relatively steady last week, up just 0.3 points to 75. ANZ Economist Maddy Dunk says there were mixed results, though, under the hood.

3. Business confidence remained negative in July, falling one point to -6, according to NAB’s survey. Conditions rose 1 point to +4 as profitability and employment lifted. Maddy says while confidence fell when the Middle East conflict escalated, it has been recovering.

4. New Zealand light traffic activity - a good indicator of demand in the economy - rose 1.3% in July to sit where it was a year ago. Meanwhile heavy traffic activity - a measure of production - eased 0.2%. But it was still up 1.6% on the year, says ANZ New Zealand Chief Economist Sharon Zollner.

5. Singapore’s economy grew by more than first thought in the second quarter, at 5.9% year-on-year in the final print, from an advance read of 5.7%. ANZ Head of Asia Research Khoon Goh says growth was largely driven by the external-facing side of the economy.

Cheers,

Alex.

PS: Catch you tomorrow with what the latest US inflation data could mean for the Fed.

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