Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.2% to 7,536.00
- Dow Average down 0.2% to 35,369.09
- Aussie down 0.3% to 0.7437 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield little changed at 1.3223%
- Australia 3-year bond yield rose 0.2bps to 0.28%
- Australia 10-year bond yield rose 4bps to 1.26%
- Gold spot down 0.2% to $1,823.32
- Brent futures down 0.5% to $72.22/bbl
Economic Events
- 9:30am: (AU) Sept. ANZ Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer, prior 101.8
- 2:30pm: (AU) Sept. RBA 3-Yr Yield Target, est. 0.10%, prior 0.10%
- 2:30pm: (AU) Sept. RBA Cash Rate Target, est. 0.10%, prior 0.10%
- 4:30pm: (AU) Aug. Foreign Reserves, prior A$64b
Australia boosted the forecast for its upcoming canola crop to a record 5 million tons as ample rains provided optimum growing conditions, offering some relief for short global supplies of the oilseed.
The government forecaster increased its 2021-22 canola crop outlook by 20% from a June estimate, as producers expanded the area planted to the oilseed due to excellent weather and strong prices. The global market has seen tight balance sheets and prices hover around record highs as severe heat and drought withered the crop in Canada, the biggest producer.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics and Sciences also increased wheat and barley estimates from June, after the overall area sown to winter crops reached a record high of 23.2 million hectares, up 2% from last year. Abundant rainfall in spring along the east coast and in South Australia will further boost the winter crop at the tail-end of the season, it said.
The national winter crop harvest is expected to reach 54.8 million tons in 2021-22, an increase of 17% from the forecast in June. While that’s 2% lower than last year, it’s about a third above the 10-year average to 2020-21.
Other News
A renter got more than she bargained for when she discovered her landlord was living in the garden shed of her newly leased property.
The woman took to Fairy Floss, a Facebook real estate group for metropolitan Melbourne, asking its 267,500 members for advice about the bizarre scenario.
She said her landlord had told her he would be storing some belongings in the shed, but it quickly became apparent that he was living there.
After confronting him, he offered to pay her $300 (AUD) a month if she allowed him to stay, insisting he would only be there for a maximum of 45 days.
But when the renter demanded her landlord sign a contract confirming he would leave the shed in 45 days, he changed his mind and said he needed to stay for three months.
The woman said she was afraid to notify the real estate agency in case they cancelled the contract which would leave her homeless.
Her post, which has racked up more than 600 ‘likes’ less than 24 hours after it was uploaded, divided opinion, with some branding the situation ‘hilarious’ while others felt it was a tragic sign of hard times.
