Australia and New Zealand - economic data and even

Australia and New Zealand - economic data and event previews

Speech by Aust. RBA Governor Glenn Stevens - Governor Stevens will deliver a speech to the Canadian Australian Chamber of Commerce. He will compare notes on recent experiences in Australia and Canada, which presumably means dwelling on the strength of the Aussie and Canadian banks, relative to their offshore counterparts.

Aust. RBA Board minutes (May) - The minutes will provide additional colour of why RBA officials opted to leave the cash rate steady earlier this month. The “unchanged” decision was widely expected. The RBA only recently released the detailed quarterly statement, including the updated house macro-economic forecasts, so there is not much new information that can be added by the minutes.

Aust. WMI consumer sentiment index (May, %m/m) - Consumer confidence probably bounced 6% in May. The survey period was extended to catch consumers’ reaction to last week’s Budget. The Budget offered few surprises, but also was not the “horror” document we had been led by the government to expect. Also, equity markets improved and there were more signs of strength in the global economy.

Aust. labour price index (Q1, %q/q) - Wage growth probably will ease in 1Q. We expect a rise of 1.0%q/q, a step down from the 1.2% gain in the December quarter. Labour costs will continue to ease as the jobless rate rises towards 9% during 2010.

Aus NZ Data previews 18May 09 (PDF)

ENDS

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