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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: elmatador who wrote (51133)	6/10/2009 1:45:36 PM
From: Elroy Jetson	Respond to of 218878

Australian Consumer Confidence Jumps Most in 22 Years businessday.com.au _ bloomberg.com 10 June 2009 -- Australian consumer confidence jumped by 12.7 percent in June, the most in 22 years, after the economy unexpectedly avoided a recession, stoking speculation the central bank has finished cutting interest rates. Home-loan approvals rose for a seventh month as the lowest borrowing costs in 49 years and government handouts bolstered demand among first-time buyers, a report showed today. Sentiment among Australian businesses jumped in May by the most in almost eight years after the government said it will spend A$22 billion on roads, railways, hospitals and schools, a National Australia Bank Ltd. survey showed yesterday. The central bank left the benchmark interest rate at 3 percent last week. The government reported on June 3 that Australia joined China and India as one of the few economies that expanded last quarter. Rate Expectations Investors expect Australia’s overnight cash rate target will be higher in 12 months, according to a Credit Suisse Group AG index based on swaps trading. Traders forecast the key interest rate will be 59 basis points higher in a year’s time, the index showed at 12:13 p.m. in Sydney. Late yesterday they tipped 52 basis points of gains and at the start of June, they tipped 3 basis points of cuts. Governor Stevens and his board cut the benchmark rate by a record 4.25 percentage points between September and April to the current 3.00%, a 49 year low. While four of the five components in Westpac’s confidence index rose. A gauge of whether now is the time to buy major household items slipped 1.6 percent. ‘Significant Stimulus’ “This surge in confidence can be seen as a delayed response to the significant stimulus over the last nine months,” said Bill Evans, Westpac’s Sydney-based chief economist. “This is a truly remarkable result.” The government is embarking on the biggest building program in Australia’s history. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has also tripled a grant to first-time buyers of new homes to A$21,000 ($16,900) last year and in May said he would extend the payments into the second half of 2009. First-home buyers accounted for 28 percent of dwellings that were financed in April, up 27.3 percent in March and 16.8 percent a year earlier, the report showed. Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said, “We can't be complacent as the global recession is having an impact upon our economy ... there is a rocky road ahead.” Westpac chief economist Bill Evans warned the positive reaction in June may turn out to be premature. "The March quarter national accounts still portrayed a very weak economy with domestic spending falling by one per cent, the sharpest fall since December quarter 2000," he said. .