(Bloomberg) — Australian business sentiment tumbled in July as Sydney’s outbreak of the delta strain of coronavirus forced even tighter stay-at-home orders and leaks of the virus prompted snap lockdowns in other major cities.
Business confidence slumped to minus-8 points from plus-11 in June, National Australia Bank Ltd. said in a statement Tuesday. The conditions index — measuring hiring, sales and profits — dropped to 11 points from a revised 25. The survey ran from July 20-30.
The result showed “optimism collapsing on the back of ongoing restrictions,” said Alan Oster, chief economist at NAB. “The fear is that lower capacity utilization and a fading pipeline on work may see businesses pull back on hiring and investment intentions.”
The highly contagious delta variant has caused shutdowns across Australia’s east coast, the nation’s most populated area, with Sydney now in its seventh week of lockdown. The central bank estimates household spending tends to drop about 15% during lockdowns and expects the economy will likely contract this quarter.
Indeed, a weekly gauge of consumer confidence released by Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. earlier Tuesday fell below the neutral level of 100 for the first time since early November last year.
All three components of NAB’s business conditions fell: trading dropped 20 points, profitability 19 and employment declined 8 points.
“We know that once restrictions are removed that the economy has tended to rebound relatively quickly,” Oster said. “The hope is that the economy again rebounds strongly, and we see little pullback in the very positive investment and hiring intentions we have seen by business in recent months.”
Reserve Bank chief Philip Lowe signaled last week that he’s adopting a similar outlook, pushing ahead with a planned taper of bond purchases in the expectation there will be a rapid recovery. In addition, the governor maintains that fiscal policy is the best tool for aiding households during such episodes — and federal and state governments have boosted assistance.
Australian authorities are trying to ramp up vaccinations to counter the outbreak after a sluggish roll out left the population vulnerable to delta.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
