European Morning Update
Releases from Australia:
Forecast Actual
January Home Loans (MoM) +1.0% +2.3%
February ANZ Job Advertisements +1.8% (prior) - 2.0%
February NAB Business Survey +13 (prior) +11
Asian releases were limited to Australia this morning and were overall mixed. In spite of repeated rate hikes Australians are still borrowing money to buy property. January home loans increased by a robust +2.3% - more than double the forecast of +1.0%.
They appear to be ignoring the global slowdown and also the first decline in Job Ads in 15 months. Further January's figure revised lower by 1.0% to +0.8%. It is hardly a huge problem right now with the annual figure still having risen by a solid 24.4%. However, with expectations that this turndown is probably the tip of the iceberg the year could see a deterioration albeit quite slowly.
And to top that the NAB's February business survey also saw conditions continuing to slowly deteriorate also. At +11 it is still relatively high and the economy is nowhere close to being described as soft but it holds the same message of a slowdown that should continue for the rest of the year.
