Yesterday
Families expected to stash extra cash from tax cuts
Retailers hoping income tax cuts will lift sales of non-essential goods are likely to be disappointed.
- Michael Read
Why $800,000 homes are in hot demand
Competitive pressure is building up in this segment of the market as investors and first-home buyers return in droves.
- Nila Sweeney
Some fundies unconvinced the RBA is done with rate increases
Fortlake Asset Management’s Christian Baylis has joined a small number of economists who expect rates to rise, not fall. He says inflation isn’t under control.
- Cecile Lefort
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
‘I’m not Buffett’: Druckenmiller on Nvidia, Trump and the Fed’s error
Wall Street legend Stan Druckenmiller has profited from the Federal Reserve’s dovish pivot, though he says it could get harder for investors to time AI’s boom.
- James Thomson
This Month
- Opinion
- The AFR View
An RBA tightening bias is called for
It’s hard not to interpret the governor’s press conference and the board’s statement as at least a mild tightening bias that will keep the cash rate where it is at least until near the end of 2024.
- The AFR View
‘We need to be alert and vigilant’: Michele Bullock
This is an edited and abridged transcript of a press conference held by Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock.
Traders trim rate rise bets on patient RBA
The markets are now pricing in just a 15 chance the cash rate will rise again this year after the Reserve Bank stood pat on Tuesday.
- Updated
- Cecile Lefort
Rising government spending is hurting the RBA’s inflation fight
The Australian economy is still operating at an unsustainably strong level despite a string of weak economic growth figures, due in part to public sector spending.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Opinion
Why data-driven Bullock has her eye on the budget
RBA governor Michele Bullock says it’s too early to declare victory over inflation as she avoids the markets’ frenzied guessing game on interest rates.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
RBA is still betting on Goldilocks. Investors shouldn’t follow suit
With the ASX 200 back near record levels, investors are betting Michele Bullock is right on a soft landing. But with uncertainty high, a more all-weather approach looks sensible.
- Updated
- James Thomson
Stressed by rates and thinking about fixing? Try the sleep test first
Lenders outside the big four are offering some of their best fixed mortgage rates in more than a year, but practice extreme caution, experts say.
- Updated
- Lucy Dean
Pace of house price growth to cool as risks emerge
House prices have recouped the interest rate-induced losses in the past two years and are poised to hit record highs this year, but downside risks are gathering pace, according to experts.
- Nila Sweeney
- Opinion
- Opinion
The Reserve Bank’s bleak news on housing
The central bank sees little respite for struggling home buyers and renters for years to come, as demand in the nation’s housing market continues to outstrip supply.
- Updated
- Karen Maley
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
‘Vigilant’ RBA puts home loan borrowers on notice
Governor Michele Bullock has issued a fresh warning to mortgage holders, two years after the Reserve Bank of Australia began raising interest rates.
- Updated
- John Kehoe
Petrol, strong jobs market stoking inflation: RBA
The central bank on Tuesday upgraded its near-term forecasts for headline inflation and pushed back the likelihood of interest rate relief until mid-2025.
- Ronald Mizen
- Updated
- Inflation
Reserve Bank on high alert for rate rise
The RBA is “very alert” to the cost of stubbornly high inflation lingering in the economy, signalling interest rates will need to stay higher for longer.
- Ronald Mizen
- Opinion
- Opinion
Reforms rather than rate rises
Supply side deregulation to drive productivity is the other half of the policy armoury that should be deployed to help curb inflation and keep employment full.
- The Parrhesian
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
The four key themes dominating Macquarie’s talkfest
Macquarie chief Shemara Wikramanayake is the perfect person to open the biggest investor conference of the year with the last of her issues a sleeper for a lot of us in Australia.
- Updated
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Ken Moelis on Trump, interest rates and Ozempic
The billionaire investment banker thinks Donald Trump has his nose in front in the US presidential race, and that could have ramifications for interest rates.
- James Thomson
RBA’s radio silence fuels extreme rate rise bets
Traders’ bet that the RBA will lift the cash rate is fuelled by the central bank’s lack of communications since March as it undergoes sweeping reporting changes.
- Cecile Lefort