Bonds/Interest Rates

ANZ suggests there are enough positives to believe the Australian dollar can make further gains against the US dollar, with parity a possibility.

TD Securities suggests New Zealand’s GDP growth for the first quarter of the year could even be negative, so bringing forward rate cuts and weakening the NZ dollar.

Both the Fed and RBA release the minutes of their last monetary policy meetings in an otherwise quiet week for data.

America registered another benign CPI in April as gasoline prices fell 2%. Come again? The Dow rallied 66 points.

The Labor government’s first budget gets a Neutral rating.

Wage price index data for the March quarter came in lower than expected and economists see it as giving the Reserve Bank some breathing room in terms of interest rates.

The Dow managed a late gain to be up 52 as oil was higher yet again. Base metals had a slide.

Labour force data for April was stronger than the market had expected and economists see it as keeping the RBA’s tightening bias in place for some time.

Last night the US dollar went up and so did the oil price. That was too much for Wall Street, which took profits before a SEC announcement accelerated losses in financials. The Dow fell 200.

The RBA is less definitive this month than it was when it also left rates unchanged last month.