interest rates

Rough day as rate hike hits, Challenger, Seven, Coles offer market updates The ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) finished down 0.4% on Thursday in what some are calling a sell-off after news that the Federal Reserve may hike interest rates earlier than expected, in 2023. Markets took this with a grain of salt, not selling off heavily, ending more focused…

Nasdaq rally, NZ travel bubble, merger activity sends market higher The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) followed a strong US lead on Tuesday, adding 0.8% with the industrials and IT sectors the key drivers. The risk-on mood boosted Afterpay Ltd (ASX:APT) by 10% and competitor Zip Co (ASX:Z1P) by 9.1% after what has been a difficult few months for the BNPL companies. By far the…

In its latest quarterly statement on monetary policy, the Reserve Bank of Australia declared its preparedness to “ease monetary policy further if needed”.

The third quarter capped the best year-to-date return for the Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index since the first nine months of 2002. Although bond prices may continue to advance, we anticipate lower returns may accompany a rise in volatility in coming quarters.

The unwillingness of the major (and other) banks to immediately cut their headline mortgage rates by as much as the Reserve Bank cuts its cash rate always attracts bad press, as well as condemnation from treasurers and prime ministers.