AUSTRIA: Australian Household Spending Below Consensus
Mar-07 01:21
- Australia’s household spending rose 0.4% m/m in January, up from a revised 0.2% in December and slightly below the expected 0.5%. Year-on-year, spending increased 2.9%, down from a revised 4.2% in December.
- The ABS reported a 1.5%increase in services spending—driven by health (up 2.5%), air travel, and recreation—as the key growth driver, while goods spending fell 0.6% after strong late-2024 gains tied to promotions like Black Friday.
- This follows Q4 2024 GDP data showing 0.6% quarterly and 1.3% annual growth, partly fueled by household consumption, which accounts for over half of GDP.
- The RBA, after cutting rates to 4.1% on February 18, remains cautious, monitoring spending and a tight labor market for signs of inflationary pressure. Spending grew across all states, though declines in furnishings and clothing (both -1.5%) tempered gains. The ABS plans to phase out retail sales reports by mid-2025, favoring the broader household spending metric.
Chart. AU Household Spending - BBG
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CNH: USD/CNY Steady Post LNY Break, But Error Term Widens
Feb-05 01:19
The USD/CNY fixing printed at 7.1693, versus a BBG consensus of 7.2813.
- This is the first fixing since the LNY break and is little changed from the Jan 27 outcome at 7.1698.
- Still, the fixing error did re-widen to -1120pips, from -753pips on the 27th.
- As we noted earlier, we would have been surprised by a sharply weaker fixing in yuan terms, as the authorities will be mindful of trade tensions with the US in light of recent tariff actions.
- USD/CNH is down a touch post the fixing outcome, but still above 7.2800.
CHINA SETS YUAN CENTRAL PARITY AT 7.1693 WEDS VS 7.1698
Feb-05 01:18
- CHINA SETS YUAN CENTRAL PARITY AT 7.1693 WEDS VS 7.1698
JPY: USD/JPY Continues To Track Lower
Feb-05 01:04
USD/JPY continues to track lower, a reminder of potential support points to watch, we were last around 153.70, right on session lows. A reminder of potential support points to watch:
SUP 1: 153.72/34 Low Jan 27 / Low Dec 18
SUP 2: 152.55 61.8% retracement of the Dec 3 - Jan 10 bull leg.
