Daily Flows
- Several keen issuers are chasing funds today, with a special rate of 5.25% for 3 months from an unrated name.
- An A2/BBB issuer will pay 5.35% for 6 months and 5.45% for 12 months to fill a funding gap. With a number of other A2 issuers in the 5.40% region for 12 month funds, now is a good time for investors to take advantage of these attractive rates.
- Plenty of NCD issuers will pay +55 for 3 months with some willing to pay up to +60 for 6 months for those looking at the NCD space.
Enough, Say Markets, As US & Aussie Data Prints Paint Clear Picture
- US stocks rose overnight on the back of a CPI print right in line with expectations, with headline CPI rising 3.1% YoY and 0.1% MoM. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones were both up almost 0.5%.
- Despite the headline easing from October’s 3.2% reading, core inflation was higher MoM and remained steady at 4.0% on a YoY basis. There certainly wasn’t anything in the result to alter the markets’ perception of another rates hold on Thursday (Sydney time), but inflation remained strong enough to push market pricing of the Fed’s first rate cut back to May 2024.
- Closer to home, NAB’s business confidence sentiment survey was down 9 points MoM to its lowest level in over a decade (excluding COVID).
- Meanwhile, Westpac’s consumer sentiment print means sentiment will finish the year at its second lowest level in the 50 years on record. All signs point to continued easing of inflation expectations as markets bet the RBA is finished its hiking cycle.