Daily Flows

• ADIs in the BBB+ and BBB space were chasing funds yesterday, with flexibility on rates.
• 9-12 month funds were popular for both investors and deposit-takers, able to secure 5.26% in the A1 space and 5.15% in the A2 bracket.
• Domestic NCD issuers were at +45 with foreign branch banks paying up to +55 to secure funds.
• We saw flows continued flows into major and mutual bank paper yesterday with market participants locking in fixed yields at the 2 and 5 year tenors.

Fewer Jobs for the Festive Season, Inflation Data Next to Come

• Australia shed 65,100 jobs in December, reversing a run of four consecutive monthly gains and sparking a drop of 0.4% in the Aussie dollar as traders bet on an increased likelihood of monetary policy easing.
• Full-time jobs fell month-on-month by the most since pandemic-induced cut backs in May 2020 as annual jobs growth dropped from 3.6% at the start of 2023 to 2.8% in December.
• Despite the drop in aggregate employment, unemployment held steady at 3.9% with fewer workers seeking employment.
• All eyes now turn to the release of Q4 inflation data at the end of January ahead of the RBA’s first meeting of the year on 5-6 February with markets expecting a dovish pause.