Market & Economic update - January 2023

File: Economic & Market Update

Duration: 01:51

Date: January 18, 2023

00:01 Economic Review January 2023

00:05 As 2022 drew to a close, investors remained focus on inflation, interest rates and recession worries.

00:12 Inflation is running around at 7% to 11% in most advanced economies, including Australia (7.3%).

00:20 The RBA lifted its target cash rate by another 25 basis points to 3.1% in December, the eighth monthly rise in a row, up from 0.1% in May.

00:27 The ASX200 index declined in December after two months of gains, ending a challenging year showing an overall loss through 2022 of over 7%.

00:30 Despite these losses the ASX 200 fared better in the year to December than the S&P Global Broad Market Index which declined by almost 12%, and the S&P 500 which fell over 19%.

00:50 The Aussie dollar lifted slightly to US68.13c in December, down to 6% for the year.

00:54 Consumer sentiment increased by 3%, from 78.0 in November to 80.3 in December.

01:00 Despite this lift, sentiment remains comparable with the lows seen during the COVID pandemic and the Global Financial Crisis.

01:06 Unemployment remains low, despite edging up to 3.45% in November.

01:11 Annual wages growth was 3.1% in the September quarter, the fastest pace In a decade.