Only Charts

Edition #6

1. China’s “official” PMIs remained sluggish to weak in December

2. Possibly more optimistic is the improvement in the new orders and employment PMIs for the construction industry

3. Wholesale electricity prices in Australia’s National Electricity Market have declined from the levels reached over the past couple of years

4. Any extension of electricity subsidies in Australia past mid-year may be politically attractive but the decline in wholesale electricity prices - if sustained - would make it questionable on economic grounds

5. As flagged by daily data, Australian dwelling price growth slowed further in December to +0.4% m/m…

6. …but December is typically a seasonally soft month for housing price growth. Post our seasonal adjustment, national price growth was a little stronger in the month

7. Not a bad year for housing price growth in most Australian capital cities (to be clear, I’m not suggesting this is a good thing)

8. Real dwelling prices in Australia are rising but remain below the recent peak

9. …and the same goes for Australia’s dwelling price-to-income ratio, which remains at a high level