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Showing 1281 - 1290 of 3072 results for "Benjamin"

China crashlands back to GFC days

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 9 MAR 2016
The recent upswing in equity and commodity markets hit the China wall, stalling or reversing following reports of worse-than-expected Chinese trade figures. This is because they reinforce the markets' current trepidation over slowing global growth. ...

Market confidence marches in March

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 7 MAR 2016
"Do you know where you're going to... Where are you going to Do you know?" - Diana Ross, 'Theme from Mahogany" Last week was another good week for equity markets with most major benchmark indices finishing with green lights blinking brightly. Has the ...

With pretty numbers like these, who needs a rate cut?

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 4 MAR 2016
At the time of this writing, the A$ is fetching around US$0.7350 - after appreciating from US$0.7175 to US$0.7295 after the National Statistician released the Australian economy's scorecard that showed much higher growth than expected in the last quarter ...

Another standout economic performance

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 3 MAR 2016
This was totally uncalled for particularly for those "experts" still calling for the Australian Reserve Bank (RBA) to cut interest rates again - with some expecting another 25bps shaved off the official cash rate (currently at 2.0%) as early as May. ...

Crouching services, contracting manufacturing

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 2 MAR 2016
Economic slowdown on a roll. This is the message from the latest disappointing readings from China's official manufacturing and non-manufacturing purchasing managers' indices (PMIs). The manufacturing PMI fell deeper into contraction (below 50) from ...

A "must do" for the ECB

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 1 MAR 2016
Latest euro area inflation data released by Eurostat has all but ensured that ECB President Mario Draghi will make good on his 21 January promise to "...reconsider our monetary policy stance at our next meeting in early March" aka increase policy stimulus. ...

A "chilling" moment for the RBA

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 29 FEB 2016
In case you missed it, finance and central bank head honchos of the Group of 20 (G-20) met over the weekend in Shanghai. But you may as well have (missed it, that is) for it was more of the same - promised-filled and action-short. In its communique ...

ZIRP to bring back "animal spirits"?

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 26 FEB 2016
Actual total private new capital expenditures may have surprised on the upside, rising by 0.8% in the three months ended December 2015 when they were expected to drop by 3.0% but... they're still not a pretty set of numbers. Uglier still, according ...

Australian wages grow slowest on record but real is better

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 25 FEB 2016
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) latest update on wages may have disappointed expectations but also confirmed what workers have been experiencing all along. The Wage Price Index - total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses - grew by 2.2% ...

Consumer (un)confidence

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 24 FEB 2016
"Consumers' short-term outlook grew more pessimistic, with consumers expressing greater apprehension about business conditions, their personal financial situation, and to a lesser degree, labor market prospects. Continued turmoil in the financial markets ...