AU Weekly Wrap | Monthly Inflation Rate Accelerates; BHP Abandons $50 Billion Anglo American Deal

Moomoo News AU wrote a column · May 31 08:46

Macro News

Australia April Retail Sales +0.1% M/M S/Adj (Reuters Poll +0.2%)

Retail sales in Australia rose at a slower-than-expected pace as shoppers remained wary in the face of high consumer prices, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Australian Retail Sales Failed to Spring Back in April

Australian retail sales remained weak in April, highlighting the plight of consumers in the face of elevated interest rates and rising costs, while signaling a sluggish economy for some time yet.

AUD/USD Jittery Over China Property Rescue Plan

Some volatility was introduced on reports that China's big cities cut downpayment ratios and mortgage rates for homebuyers. The easing of requirements comes amid the Chinese government's broad property rescue package announced earlier this month, including funding to help local governments to buy unsold homes from developers.

Australia April Month CPI 3.6% Y/Y, Prior 3.5%

Australia's monthly inflation rate accelerated to 3.6% year-on-year in April from 3.5% in March, which defied market expectations for a slowdown to 3.4% and was the highest since November.

RBA Rate Cut in 2024 Virtually Off the Table, Says BlackRock

Australia's high inflation problem seems likely to persist through this year, pushing thoughts of an interest-rate cut before 2025 "virtually out the door," says Craig Vardy, head of fixed income at BlackRock.

Company News

Lendlease Quits International Construction to Free A$4.5 Billion

Australian real-estate developer $Lendlease Group(LLC.AU)$ plans to exit international construction amid what it called a prolonged market downturn, freeing 4.5 billion Australian dollars (US$2.98 billion) for capital returns, debt reduction and local growth.

Rio Tinto, BHP to Collaborate on Battery-electric Trucks Trial in Australia

The companies will test the technology for large battery-electric haul trucks from manufacturers $Caterpillar(CAT.US)$ and $Komatsu(6301.JP)$, according to a Sunday release. $BHP Group Ltd(BHP.AU)$ will trial two Cat 793 haul trucks from the second half of 2024 and $Rio Tinto Ltd(RIO.AU)$ will trial two Komatsu 930 haul trucks from 2026. The mining companies will share the outcomes of the trials.

Falcon Metals Hits High-Grade Mineral Sands at Victoria's Farrelly Prospect

$Falcon Metals Ltd(FAL.AU)$ discovered high-grade mineral sands at its Farrelly mineral sands prospect in Victoria, the miner said Tuesday. Shares of Falcon Metals jumped nearly 100% in recent trade.

BHP Abandons $50 Billion Anglo American Deal

$BHP Group Ltd(BHP.AU)$ is walking away from its roughly $50 billion takeover bid for $ANGLO AMERICAN(AAUKF.US)$ after failing to convince its rival to further engage in talks on what would have been the largest-ever mining deal.

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