Australasia Real Time News items

• OVERNIGHT: Australian April building approvals came in worse than expectedPosted:01/06/2010 7:35 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• OVERNIGHT: Australian retail sales rise 0.6% in April -- better than expectedPosted:01/06/2010 7:32 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• RBA says interest rates are at their average levelPosted:01/06/2010 7:25 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• RBA says rate is appropriate for the near termPosted:01/06/2010 7:22 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• Reserve Bank of Australia leaves rate unchanged at 4.5%Posted:01/06/2010 7:19 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• Ford to Shut Down Mercury LinePosted:27/05/2010 19:35 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• OVERNIGHT: New Zealand Mar. PPI rises 1.8% q/qPosted:18/05/2010 8:38 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• RBA Minutes: Over next couple of years it was likely that inflation would not be much below the top of the target rangePosted:18/05/2010 8:34 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• RBA Minutes: Strong Asian growth would boost Australian national incomePosted:18/05/2010 8:31 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• RBA Minutes: Interest rates now at average levelPosted:18/05/2010 8:27 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• OVERNIGHT: RBA minutes indicate further interest rate hikesPosted:16/03/2010 9:43 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
  The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said in its minutes report from March that it sees the Australian economy to continue to strengthen. Consequently, the RBA indicated that further interest rates would be necessary. The RBA said, "it remained appropriate for interest rates to move gradually towards normal levels, and that it was timely to take another step in that direction." At its last meeting, the RBA decided to raise the cash rate by 0.25% to 4.0%. The bank expects consumer price inflation to be around 2.5% over 2010.
• RBA'S Lowe says over coming years further significant increases in resource exports are expectedPosted:10/03/2010 6:36 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• OVERNIGHT: RBA'S Lowe says supply needs to expand so that demand can grow solidly without causing inflation to risePosted:10/03/2010 6:34 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• OVERNIGHT: Australia Q4 2009 GDP up 0.9% q/qPosted:03/03/2010 6:37 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• UPDATE: RBA's Battelino says rising Aussie helped economy to adjust to commodities boom, ease inflationPosted:23/02/2010 8:19 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
  The Reserve Bank of Australia's deputy governor Ric Battelino said in a speech that Australia is currently experiencing a mining and energy boom which is different in its characteristics from previous booms. The current commodities boom, whose start Battelino dates to 2005, is based across a range of resources, but the core part centres on the large expansion in the iron ore, coal and gas industries, Battelino said. Even though Australia has experienced several commodity booms in its history, there are a couple of characteristics which make make this boom different from the previous ones, he clarified. One main difference is that "this is the first boom during which the exchange rate has been floating, and in which a significant rise in the nominal exchange rate has been an important part of the economic adjustment. This has added an important degree of flexibility to the economy, by allowing the real exchange rate to rise through a means other than inflation", Battelino noted. Even though it would be uncertain how long the current surge in mining activity will continue and past booms do not seem to have lasted more than about 15 years, he said. On this occasion, the growth potential of countries such as China and India suggests that the expansion in resource demand could continue for an extended period, according to Battelino.
• RBA's Battelino says expansion in resource demand could continue for an extended periodPosted:23/02/2010 7:43 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• OVERNIGHT: RBA's Stevens says further interest rate hikes probably needed, turn attention on managing econ. expansionPosted:19/02/2010 7:07 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• RBA minutes: further interest rate hikes likely, but not at every meeting, withdrawing stimulus requires degree of flexibilityPosted:16/02/2010 6:38 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• OVERNIGHT: Australia Dec. home loans fell 5.5% after revised drop of 6.1% in Nov. -- 3rd monthly fall in a rowPosted:10/02/2010 8:12 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• RBA says appropriate to hold rates as information about recent withdrawal of stimulus meausures is limitedPosted:02/02/2010 6:36 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• Australian Q4 CPI rises 0.5% q/q vs. forecast of 0.4%, Q3 1% q/q -- Australian Bureau of StatisticsPosted:27/01/2010 7:14 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• Reminder: RBA expected to raise rates to 3.75% tonight; announcement at 10:30pm ESTPosted:30/11/2009 21:01 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• Aussie continues fall despite interest rate rising to 3.5%Posted:03/11/2009 8:36 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
• RBNZ Governor Bollard Comments following RBNZ DecisionPosted:13/07/2009 17:30 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
  RBNZ Governor Bollard comments in a press conference following the RBNZ's decision to cut interest rates by 50 basis points to 3%. He stated that future interest rate moves will occur in smaller increments should they be necessary. Additionally, Bollard added that interest rates in New Zealand will not be near 0% and he expects banks to cut lending rates further. Bollard believes New Zealand is in a better position than other global economies. On kiwi, Bollard reiterated that the weaker currency is helpful to the economy. Kiwi gained 50 pips to 0.5115 in the wake of Bollard's statement that the pace of rate cuts would slow.
• Overnight: Australia extends short-selling ban to end-MayPosted:12/07/2009 0:07 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
  Australia's market regulator, the ASIC, extended the ban on short-selling of financial stocks to the end of May. The ban was imposed in November and was due to expire on March 6. "Any possible loss of market efficiency or price discovery as the result of the continuation of the ban is justified given the current market circumstances," the ASIC said in a statement.