Bonds/Interest Rates

The RBA this afternoon chose to leave the cash rate at 7.25%.

Barclays Capital’s latest analysis of seasonal trends shows equity prices traditionally do well in April, the Aussie market especially, while the Kiwi dollar also generally strengthens.

Were Australia’s as yet robust housing market to follow the US into a slump, one mortgage lender has created a new product that may interest the cautious mortgage holder.

February saw another reduction in personal credit while overall private credit growth is the lowest in five years.

The TD Securities – Melbourne Institute Monthly Inflation Gauge for March shows Australian inflationary pressures have not eased.

The RBA meets next week but will not raise the cash rate while the US has another week of data over which to argue the case of recession.

Tech stocks and financials took Wall Street down again last night, as the Dow lost 120 points.

The Dow fell over 100 points on weak data, a weaker dollar, a resurgent oil price, and renewed concerns surrounding Citigroup.

Deleveraging of commodity positions saw a major sell off across the spectrum as Merrills gets the wobbles and nips financials in the bud. The Dow closed down 293.

Weekly musings from your editor, who looks like a goose on Thursday morning as the US market did exactly the opposite he thought it would do. Wednesday’s version has been amended.