CommBank Global Economic & Markets Update podcast cbaresearchpodcast

In this edition of the podcast, Belinda Allen, Senior Economist and Stephen Halmarick, Chief Economist discuss the subdued results of the March CommBank Household Spending Insights series. An early Easter boosted Food & beverage goods spending and higher petrol prices boosted Transport spending. Recreation and Household goods spending was weak. The upcoming Budget and the latest RBA Minutes were also discussed in light of the impact on the consumer.
 
------ DISCLAIMER ------
 
Before listening to this podcast, you are advised to read the full Global Economic & Markets Research (GEMR) disclaimers, which can be found at www.commbankresearch.com.au. Information in this podcast is of a general nature only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs and does not constitute personal financial advice. This podcast provides general market-related information, and is not investment research and nor does it purport to make any recommendations. The information contained in this podcast is approved and distributed by Global Economic & Markets Research (GEMR), a business division of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124 AFSL 234945 (“the Bank”). The information is solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities or other financial products. It does not constitute a personal recommendation or take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situations, or needs of individual clients. Where ‘CBA data’ is cited, this refers to the Bank proprietary data that is sourced from the Bank’s internal systems and may include, but not be limited to, home loan data, credit card transaction data, merchant facility transaction data and applications for credit. The data used in the ‘Commonwealth Bank Household Spending Intentions’ series is a combination of the CBA Data and publically available ABS, CoreLogic and RBA data. As analysis is based on CBA customer transactions,  it may not reflect all trends in the market. All customer data used or represented in this podcast is anonymised before analysis and is used, and disclosed, in accordance with the Bank’s Privacy Policy. The Bank believes that the information in this podcast is correct and any opinions, conclusions or recommendations made are reasonably held and are based on the information available at the time of its compilation. The Bank makes no representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of any statement made.
 

Media coverage in the past month have highlighted diverging views towards the Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES).  The NVES will, for the first time in Australia’s history, set tailpipe emission targets for new light vehicles sold in Australia.  Indeed, the NVES will send a strong signal that Australia will prioritise low-emissions vehicles.  But what are the likely short-term impacts and how does it all work?  To answer these questions, John Oh, Sustainable Economist and Dennis Voznesenski, Agricultural Economist, sit down to discuss the findings of the latest note on the NVES.
 
------ DISCLAIMER ------
 
Before listening to this podcast, you are advised to read the full Global Economic & Markets Research (GEMR) disclaimers which can be found at www.commbankresearch.com.au. Information in this podcast is of a general nature only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs and does not constitute personal financial advice. This podcast provides general market-related information, and is not investment research and nor does it purport to make any recommendations. The information contained in this podcast is approved and distributed by Global Economic & Markets Research (GEMR), a business division of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124 AFSL 234945 (“the Bank”). The information is solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities or other financial products. It does not constitute a personal recommendation or take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situations, or needs of individual clients. Where ‘CBA data’ is cited, this refers to the Bank proprietary data that is sourced from the Bank’s internal systems and may include, but not be limited to, home loan data, credit card transaction data, merchant facility transaction data and applications for credit. As analysis is based on CBA customer transactions,  it may not reflect all trends in the market. All customer data used or represented in this podcast is anonymised before analysis and is used, and disclosed, in accordance with the Group’s Privacy Policy Statement. The Bank believes that the information in this podcast is correct and any opinions, conclusions or recommendations are reasonably held based on the information available at the time of its compilation but no representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made or provided as to accuracy, reliability or completeness of any statement made.

Introduction to mandatory climate reporting in Australia could mean large businesses would need to estimate and report scope 3 emissions.  What are scope 3 emissions? And how do they differ by industry? To answer these questions, John Oh, Sustainable Economist and Joseph Capurso, Head of International and Sustainable Economics sit down to discuss their latest note ‘A guidebook to finding hot spots in Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions’.
 
------ DISCLAIMER ------
Before listening to this podcast, you are advised to read the full Global Economic & Markets Research (GEMR) disclaimers which can be found at www.commbankresearch.com.au. Information in this podcast is of a general nature only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs and does not constitute personal financial advice. This podcast provides general market-related information, and is not investment research and nor does it purport to make any recommendations. The information contained in this podcast is approved and distributed by Global Economic & Markets Research (GEMR), a business division of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124 AFSL 234945 (“the Bank”). The information is solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities or other financial products. It does not constitute a personal recommendation or take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situations, or needs of individual clients. Where ‘CBA data’ is cited, this refers to the Bank proprietary data that is sourced from the Bank’s internal systems and may include, but not be limited to, home loan data, credit card transaction data, merchant facility transaction data and applications for credit. As analysis is based on CBA customer transactions,  it may not reflect all trends in the market. All customer data used or represented in this podcast is anonymised before analysis and is used, and disclosed, in accordance with the Group’s Privacy Policy Statement. The Bank believes that the information in this podcast is correct and any opinions, conclusions or recommendations are reasonably held based on the information available at the time of its compilation but no representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made or provided as to accuracy, reliability or completeness of any statement made.

February 2024 showed further evidence of a slowdown in consumer spending according to the CommBank Household Spending Insights series. A fall of 0.3%/mth occurred in February, with the peak in the index occurring in November 2023. There was evidence of a Taylor Swift, and other musical acts induced lift in spending with parts of Recreation and Hospitality seeing a strong increase. However other essential parts of the spending basket continue to lift, including Utilities and Health. Stephen Halmarick, Chief Economist, and Belinda Allen, Senior Economist discuss the results and touch of the Q4 23 GDP results and outlook for the Reserve Bank of Australia.
 
------ DISCLAIMER ------
Before listening to this podcast, you are advised to read the full Global Economic & Markets Research (GEMR) disclaimers, which can be found at www.commbankresearch.com.au. Information in this podcast is of a general nature only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs and does not constitute personal financial advice. This podcast provides general market-related information, and is not investment research and nor does it purport to make any recommendations. The information contained in this podcast is approved and distributed by Global Economic & Markets Research (GEMR), a business division of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124 AFSL 234945 (“the Bank”). The information is solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities or other financial products. It does not constitute a personal recommendation or take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situations, or needs of individual clients. Where ‘CBA data’ is cited, this refers to the Bank proprietary data that is sourced from the Bank’s internal systems and may include, but not be limited to, home loan data, credit card transaction data, merchant facility transaction data and applications for credit. The data used in the ‘Commonwealth Bank Household Spending Intentions’ series is a combination of the CBA Data and publically available ABS, CoreLogic and RBA data. As analysis is based on CBA customer transactions,  it may not reflect all trends in the market. All customer data used or represented in this podcast is anonymised before analysis and is used, and disclosed, in accordance with the Bank’s Privacy Policy. The Bank believes that the information in this podcast is correct and any opinions, conclusions or recommendations made are reasonably held and are based on the information available at the time of its compilation. The Bank makes no representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of any statement made.

The CommBank Household Spending Insights shows a solid lift of 3.1% in seasonally adjusted terms over January 2024. The last three months of spending has been volatile, due to shifting summer spending patterns. Overall though the HSI shows spending running at 3.6%/yr, which when taking into account inflation and population growth suggests spending is weak on a real per capita basis. Stephen Halmarick, Chief Economist, and Belinda Allen, Senior Economist discuss the results and other trends evident in the data and how we expect spending to be volatile over this period.
 
------ DISCLAIMER ------ 
Before listening to this podcast, you are advised to read the full Global Economic & Markets Research (GEMR) disclaimers, which can be found at www.commbankresearch.com.au. Information in this podcast is of a general nature only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs and does not constitute personal financial advice. This podcast provides general market-related information, and is not investment research and nor does it purport to make any recommendations. The information contained in this podcast is approved and distributed by Global Economic & Markets Research (GEMR), a business division of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124 AFSL 234945 (“the Bank”). The information is solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities or other financial products. It does not constitute a personal recommendation or take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situations, or needs of individual clients. Where ‘CBA data’ is cited, this refers to the Bank proprietary data that is sourced from the Bank’s internal systems and may include, but not be limited to, home loan data, credit card transaction data, merchant facility transaction data and applications for credit. The data used in the ‘CommBank Household Spending Insights’ series is a combination of the CBA Data and publicly available ABS, CoreLogic and RBA data. As analysis is based on CBA customer transactions, it may not reflect all trends in the market. All customer data used or represented in this podcast is anonymised before analysis and is used, and disclosed, in accordance with the Bank’s Privacy Policy. The Bank believes that the information in this podcast is correct and any opinions, conclusions or recommendations made are reasonably held and are based on the information available at the time of its compilation. The Bank makes no representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of any statement made.” 
 

In our latest podcast Joseph Capurso, Kristina Clifton and Carol Kong from the International and Sustainable Economics team discuss our updated outlook for the major economies and their central banks.  We now predict the FOMC will pull off a ‘soft landing’ in the US economy.  Japan, Canada, the Eurozone and the UK will skirt close to recession in 2024.  Meanwhile, China is expected to keep growing by ‘around 5%’.  We expect all central banks under our coverage, with the exception of Japan, to cut interest rates this year. 
 
------ DISCLAIMER ------
Before listening to this podcast, you are advised to read the full Global Economic & Markets Research (GEMR) disclaimers which can be found at www.commbankresearch.com.au. Information in this podcast is of a general nature only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs and does not constitute personal financial advice. This podcast provides general market-related information, and is not investment research and nor does it purport to make any recommendations. The information contained in this podcast is approved and distributed by Global Economic & Markets Research (GEMR), a business division of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124 AFSL 234945 (“the Bank”). The information is solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities or other financial products. It does not constitute a personal recommendation or take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situations, or needs of individual clients. Where ‘CBA data’ is cited, this refers to the Bank proprietary data that is sourced from the Bank’s internal systems and may include, but not be limited to, home loan data, credit card transaction data, merchant facility transaction data and applications for credit. As analysis is based on CBA customer transactions,  it may not reflect all trends in the market. All customer data used or represented in this podcast is anonymised before analysis and is used, and disclosed, in accordance with the Group’s Privacy Policy Statement. The Bank believes that the information in this podcast is correct and any opinions, conclusions or recommendations are reasonably held based on the information available at the time of its compilation but no representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made or provided as to accuracy, reliability or completeness of any statement made.