Breakfast briefing: Markets take Fed cut in their stride

US Fed cuts as expected; US payroll costs inflate; Canada holds its rate; China CPI stays low; IMF upgrades China growth; UST 10yr at 4.16%; gold firm, silver at another new record; oil holds; AU$1 = 66.4 USc

Only creative destruction will boost competitiveness

2025 Nobel laureate Philippe Aghion explains how advanced economies in Europe (or elsewhere) can find their way back to the technological frontier

The RBA holds its cash rate target at 3.6%

The Australian central bank struggles with the inflation outlook but sees risks tilting to the upside, even though they still think the inflation pressure is transitory

Competition for one year term deposits is heating up

Even though most of the top ten banks have raised their interest rate offers, and two more have now just done so, most are struggling to defend the raid on household deposits by Macbank

For Macbank, the only direction is 'up'

Macquarie raises its fixed home loan rates across the board, with some increases quite large. This comes after aggressive rate offers to savers

Creative destruction should not spare commercial banks

Katharina Pistor worries that policymakers are foregoing innovation for fear of disrupting a centuries-old business model

Will China forcibly boost fertility?

Yi Fuxian thinks the positive effects of incentives to boost China's fertility rate will be temporary while more coercive measures are unlikely

Q3 economic activity rises less than expected

The latest GDP data shows private investment growth driven by machinery and equipment for data centers. Essential household spending rose as discretionary spending dropped. But the household saving ratio rose

Macbank keeps pressure on its rivals with a new market-leading one year TD rate

Moving fast, Macquarie extends its appeal to household savers, adding a new very competitive term deposit rate to an already competitive savings rate set

Teaching their rivals a lesson, some of them an increasingly painful one

Macquarie Bank has gained an extra $19 bln in household deposits over and above the market growth of +10.5%. And no rival seems to be able to do anything about their momentum

Commbank really wants your attention

The biggest bank is making an outsized play for your savings with a hefty hike in their two year term deposit rate to a market-leading level

APRA to limit high debt-to-income home loans to constrain riskier lending

New rules arrive to try and limit the impending damage the Home Guarantee Scheme is expected to induce, after Canberra pulled taxpayers into backing up risky first home buyer lending in an already frothy housing market

CPI rose 3.8% in the year to October 2025

Inflation up unexpectedly, complicating the RBA's policy track. This is the highest inflation reading since the monthly data series began in April 2025

Most banks have four percent rates or higher for savers

Banks scramble to offer higher savings and term deposit rates as Macquarie Banks appetite for household deposits gathers momentum. We look at what is now available

Piling on the pressure

Suddenly, the tables have turned and household depositors who have good-sized balances are in a great position to negotiate much better rates for their funds

Risks and vulnerabilities

In its latest review of the financial system, APRA is seeing some signs of a pick-up in higher risk lending, particularly high debt-to-income borrowing by investors

Ranking variable mortgage rates

Although comparing bank mortgage rates appears daunting, we have the tools to allow you to take charge of this yourself so that you can know you always get the best deal