Good morning, it’s Matt here in a chilly Melbourne. Before we clock off for the week…
Today’s must-reads:
• EU and Australia have a trade beef
• Newcrest digs deeper for gold
• Australia’s tech stock trounce
The government rebuffed suggestions a trade deal with Europe is imminent, with Trade Minister Don Farrell declaring an accord won’t be reached without “meaningful commercial market access” for the nation’s agricultural products. Behind the scenes, European negotiators believe the FTA could be sealed in coming weeks if differences over the last major sticking point — market access for Australian beef — are bridged, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
Next week’s RBA meeting will effectively be ‘live’ after retail sales data on Thursday came in better than expected, suggesting that household spending remains resilient in the face of rising interest rates and cost of living pressures. While figures were lifted by earlier sales promotion events, the policy-sensitive three-year government bond yield rose as traders priced a rate hike next week to roughly a coin toss.
Australia’s tech stocks have been a better buy than their US and Asian peers this quarter, helped by the euphoria around artificial intelligence and the (possibly premature) view that central banks are at their peak rate. S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index has climbed about 20% so far this quarter, outpacing the Nasdaq 100’s roughly 13% gain.
