AUD News

The number of building approvals in Australia increased at a faster-than-expected rate in July, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Tuesday.

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Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade deficit of A$1.359 billion in July, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

That topped forecasts for a shortfall of A$1.750 billion following the upwardly revised A$1.564 billion deficit in June (originally A$-1.683 billion).

Exports were up 1.0 percent on month or A$280 million to A$27.022 billion.

Non-monetary gold surged A$150 million (14 percent), while rural goods climbed A$75 million (2 percent), non-rural goods added A$44 million and net exports of goods under merchanting gained A$1 million (100 percent).

Services credits added A$10 million.

Imports were roughly flat on month, adding A$74 million to A$28.381 billion.

Intermediate and other merchandise goods climbed A$89 million (1 percent) and consumption goods collected A$19 million.

Non-monetary gold tumbled A$77 million (23 percent), while capital goods fell A$2 million. Services debits advanced A$45 million (1 percent).

Also on Thursday, the ABS said that the total value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent on month in July, standing at A$23.310 billion.

That was in line with forecasts, although it slowed from the 0.6 percent expansion in June.

Among the individual components, food retailing was up 0.3 percent on month, followed by household goods retailing (0.2 percent) and cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.1 percent).

Moving lower, sales for clothing, footwear and personal accessory tumbled 0.4 percent, followed by sales for department stores (-0.2 percent) and other retailing (-0.1 percent).

By region, sales in New South Wales added 0.3 percent, followed by Western Australia (0.1 percent), South Australia (0.2 percent), Tasmania (0.2 percent) and the Australian Capital Territory (0.2 percent).

Victoria was relatively unchanged (0.0 percent), while sales in Queensland (-0.1 percent) and the Northern Territory (-0.3 percent) were down.

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Consumer confidence in Australia declined sharply in September, the latest survey from Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute revealed on Wednesday.

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The unemployment rate in Australia fell to a seasonally adjusted 6.1 percent in August, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

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The total number of motor vehicle sales in Australia fell at a faster rate in August, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Monday.

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Australia's economy continued to expand, the Conference Board's latest leading index revealed on Wednesday - gaining 0.5 percent in July.

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Job advertisements in Australia increased at a slower rate in September, the latest survey from the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group revealed Monday.

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The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep its cash rate unchanged as expected at its October meeting.

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Business confidence in Australia took a hit in September, the latest survey from the National Australia Bank revealed on Tuesday, as its business confidence index slipped to a score of 5 from a reading of 8 in August.

The index for business conditions also was down, falling from 4 in August to 1 in September.

"The effects of soft national income growth - a function of lower commodity prices, excess capacity and cautious spending behavior - are being felt across the economy," said Alan Oster, chief economist at NAB. "This has been reflected in most industries."

Among the individual components of the survey, confidence was at its highest for construction, and at the lowest by far for mining.


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Consumer prices are expected to rise 3.4 percent on year in October, the latest forecast from Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute revealed on Thursday.

That's down slightly from the 3.5 percent annual increase forecast in September.

The trimmed mean came in at 3.3 percent, the data showed.

"Inflationary expectations have clearly eased back; maybe for now falling petrol prices are more important in the formation of expectations than a falling AUD," Westpac noted in a release accompanying the data. "Consumers are increasing seeing a very benign outlook for inflation."


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