As we expected this morning, the S&P/ASX200 was up at around 2:30pm, just as Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe addressed an audience in Brisbane about changes to the bank’s structure.
At the time of writing the local bourse had gained 23.30 points or 0.33% to 7,132.20.
The index has lost 1.67% for the last five days but has gained 1.33% over the last year to date.
Energy paced the US stock market up overnight and so it was down under – Energy stocks were bright green, up 1.83%, followed not all that closely by Materials (0.86%) and Real Estate (0.41%).
Information Technology and Health Care were the losers, down 0.64% and 0.60% respectively.
RBA structural changes
RBA governor Philip Lowe unveiled some big changes to the way the bank will conduct its business, following a root-and-branch review.
Starting next year the bank will hold eight board meetings annually instead of 11. Decisions on rates will come down on the first Tuesdays in February, May, August and November and meeting dates will be published ‘well in advance’.
Unlike now, the board rather than the governor will be the signatory to the interest rate decisions and the public will know which way the votes went.
A specialist monetary policy team consisting of economists will make decisions rather than business leaders.
Dr Lowe’s seven-year term is up in September and he faces being replaced, pending an announcement by the Treasurer.
New Zealand pauses rates for now
IG analyst Tony Sycamore had this to say about the economic situation for our friends across the ditch:
“The RBNZ, which became the first Central Bank in the developed world to commence a rate hiking cycle (October 2021), has today kept interest rates on hold at 5.50% after hiking at each of the 12 meetings since October 2021.
“The RBNZ is viewed as a test case for other Central Banks globally which have followed its lead in tightening monetary policy.
“Heading into the meeting, the rates market was fully priced for an on-hold decision, with a full 25p rate hike priced by the first meeting of 2024.
“In mid-June, it was reported that GDP in Q1 of 2023 shrank by -0.1% following a downwardly revised -0.7% fall in the previous quarter, which meets the definition of a technical recession.
“The fall in Q1 GDP was partly due to adverse weather in January of this year and signs that the RBNZs tightening cycle is slowing the economy as well as inflation. In Q1 of this year, inflation fell to 6.7% from 7.2%.
“The Monetary Policy Committee discussed the appropriate stance of monetary policy. The committee agreed that interest rates will need to remain at a restrictive level for the foreseeable future, to ensure consumer price inflation returns to the 1 to 3% target range while supporting maximum sustainable employment.”
The NZ dollar fell from 0.6222 US cents to 0.6209 US cents, while the Aussie dollar rallied against the Kiwi equivalent, from NZ$1.0801 to a high of NZ$1.0826.
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