Australian private sector business activity stalled in October, hitting its lowest level since March as interest rates kept rising and global shocks intensified. The S&P Global flash Australia PMI composite output index fell to 47.7 from 51.3 in September. Jingyi Pan of S&P Global attributed the downturn to higher prices and rising rates, and said business confidence had taken a hit from economic uncertainty. The Reserve Bank of Australia warned that the inflation outlook has become materially worse; after four rate hikes since the start of the year, with inflation well above its target of around 2.5%, markets are speculating on another increase in November. Despite the slowdown, input and output price inflation both rose faster, while service firms hired more staff after shedding jobs at the end of the third quarter.
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Read the original on morningstar.com ↗
Keywords
AustraliaRBAinterest ratesinflation
Open a keyword to see other news on the same topic.
Related tickers and likely impact
AUD/USD
▼ Likely negativeRelevance: medium
| Market | Currencies |
|---|---|
| Close on 10/22/2026 | 0.70195 |
| Change that session | -0.13% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
Related news
- Why five - year - high unemployment wont stop another RBA rate hike
Markets see a November RBA rate hike as close to a coin toss, even though official figures released a week ago showed unemployment hitting a five-year high of 4.7%. The RBA has a full-employment mandate, and unemployment is running well above its forecasts, which may signal a faster-than-expected weakening in the jobs market. In theory, that should help bring inflation back to target without the need for higher interest rates.
- Markets weigh RBA interest rate raise on Melbourne Cup Day after Andrew Hauser inflation warning
Financial markets are beginning to price in the possibility that Australian interest rates will rise above 5% early next year, after the central bank issued an inflation warning this week. The Australian dollar hit a three-week high of US70.28 cents on Thursday, up 1% in just four days, while three-year bond yields rose 10 basis points to 4.94% as traders rapidly repriced expectations ahead of the RBA's next policy meeting.
- Timely advice to Treasurer Chalmers: Stop relying on the RBA
Dr Bronwyn Kelly's column argues that Treasurer Jim Chalmers should heed former RBA Governor Bernie Fraser's criticism, made in the 2026 Bernie Fraser Oration at the Australia Institute, that interest-rate policy will do little to solve inflation. The author warns that the RBA's aggressive rate increases risk pushing the economy into recession as unemployment rises, house prices fall and consumer confidence plunges. Fraser said the RBA has drifted from its founding charter, which set full employment and currency stability as core goals, since the late 1990s, and that the late-2024 amendment adding price stability made rising unemployment a tool for price control. The column also says monetary policy is at best useless and at worst harmful for price stability, though it can help investment by small businesses.
- Nightmare: RBA inflation warning puts another hike in play
RBA deputy governor Andrew Hauser said the inflation outlook has deteriorated more than the bank projected in August, and doubts about returning inflation to target could warrant another rate hike. A rise would be the fifth this year, lifting the cash rate to 4.85 per cent, its highest since 2008, and Hauser called the trade-off between tackling inflation and weaker activity “hard choices”. He warned that if people expect inflation to stay above target, that would be “the central banker's nightmare”, even though unemployment, at a five-year high in September, remains comparatively low. After his remarks, market pricing for a November hike rose to 57 per cent from below 20 per cent last week, ahead of September-quarter inflation data on October 28. ANZ and Westpac forecast a November increase, while NAB and CBA judge the hiking cycle finished.
- Reserve Bank of Australia signals rate hike today after inflation tracking exceeds central bank targets
- Inflation , interest rates : RBA warns of tough rate choices
Related markets
Latest news
- Cardano holders are being asked to bet $5 million on copper hitting a new record
Toto Finance is asking Cardano's treasury for 22 million ADA, about $5 million, to buy and tokenize copper, with voting closing Nov. 15. About two-thirds of the budget would buy copper stored in a COMEX-approved warehouse for 18 to 24 months before sale, while the rest covers storage, insurance, audits and Toto's work. If the full budget is spent and ADA's dollar price stays unchanged, copper would need to rise about 49.4% for the treasury to recover its investment, and there is no guarantee the treasury gets its original ADA back. Toto could receive up to 3.36 million ADA, roughly 15% of the request, and would keep its commercial rights to its tokenized-copper business. The proposal would use just over half of Cardano's remaining withdrawal allowance, which would not be replenished under existing rules.
- Bitcoin Core changes security policy as AI makes bugs easier to find
Bitcoin Core is changing its security disclosure policy because large language models have made some flaws easy to rediscover, so long embargoes offer little protection. Under the new policy, vulnerabilities deemed easily discoverable will be fixed as soon as possible across all maintained major versions, with security advisories published alongside the updates. Other flaws will follow severity-based schedules: low-severity bugs will be disclosed two weeks after the fix is released, while medium and high-severity bugs will be disclosed two weeks after the last affected release reaches End of Life, typically a year after the fix. The change follows a volunteer Bitcoin Red Team report of nearly 5,000 potential issues across 390 projects in August, though only about a fifth had been reproduced at that point.
- Asia FX steadies as oil surge weighs on risk appetite, yen holds gains
Asian currencies and the U.S. dollar were largely subdued on Friday as investors weighed rising energy costs and geopolitical tensions, while the yen held its gains after a safe-haven rally tied to concerns over global growth and tech valuations. The U.S. Dollar Index was flat at 101.60 by 03:33 GMT, near a three-week low and on track for a second straight weekly loss. USD/JPY edged up 0.1% to 156.90 after a nearly 1% drop in the previous session, as the yen reached its highest level in more than a month. Brent crude near $114 a barrel, after a 4% jump on Thursday following attacks in Saudi Arabia, raises inflation risks for energy importers such as Japan, India and South Korea. The Indian rupee extended its losses, with USD/INR up 0.3% to 95.109, while the yuan hovered near four-year lows; the Fed is expected to hold rates at 3.75%-4.00% on October 28, with ECB and BoJ decisions due on October 29 and 30.
- Securities firm with the heaviest loss in the sector in Q3 2026 revealed
APG Securities (APG) posted a pre-tax loss of nearly 108 billion VND in Q3 2026, compared with a profit of nearly 20 billion VND a year earlier, the largest loss among securities firms that have reported Q3 results. Revenue fell 21% to nearly 69 billion VND and gains from FVTPL financial assets dropped 93%, while operating expenses rose to nearly 124 billion VND, mainly due to a 119 billion VND loss on FVTPL assets. Financial expenses rose nearly 33% to 43.5 billion VND, mostly interest costs. For the first nine months, APG recorded a pre-tax loss of nearly 105 billion VND, against a profit of over 28 billion VND a year earlier, putting its 2026 pre-tax profit target of 20 billion VND under pressure.
- IonQ vs. Rigetti Computing: Which Quantum Computing Stock Is the Better Buy?
The article compares quantum computing companies IonQ (ion-based) and Rigetti Computing (superconducting). Rigetti reported Q2 revenue of $5.1 million, up from $1.8 million in 2025, but an operating loss of $28.1 million, and held $541.3 million in cash and investments; it also received a $100 million award from the U.S. Department of Commerce. IonQ posted Q2 revenue of $80.1 million and forecasts 2026 sales of $280–290 million versus $130 million in 2025, though its Q2 operating loss widened to $337.2 million from $160.6 million, and the Elisity deal involves stock valued at up to $1.3 billion. The author judges IonQ the better investment given its consistent revenue growth, says they bought IonQ shares, and notes Rigetti's price-to-sales ratio is more than six times IonQ's.
- Hoa Binh Construction dismisses a Deputy General Director
Hoa Binh Construction (HBC) dismissed Nguyen Kinh Luan from his position as Deputy General Director effective 1 November 2026, for personal reasons, and he will remain a Board member. Earlier, on 15 September 2026, Mr. Luan resigned from all his positions at the company and related entities. Separately, on 18 September 2026, the company distributed more than 51.4 million shares to 99 creditors to swap debt of nearly VND 514.2 billion, equal to 100% of the shares issued. The swapped shares are restricted from transfer for one year and are expected to be delivered within 30 days after the issuance closes.
Get the briefing on Telegram or Zalo
Join the Upside Telegram channel or Zalo group for the Vietnam stocks and gold briefing at 8:00 and 19:00 (Vietnam time) on trading days, plus a weekly wrap on Saturday morning.