The war in Ukraine overshadowed financial markets throughout the month, but hopes of a breakthrough in peace talks lifted sentiment towards risk assets. Solid gains among US-listed stocks helped the MSCI World Index rise more than 3%.
The Budget boost for low to middle income earners, in particular, was designed to improve the Government’s approval ratings ahead of May’s Federal Election.
Other forecasts released alongside the Budget provided further grounds for optimism. Officials expect unemployment to fall to 3.75% later
this year – from 4.0% currently – and annual wage growth to rise above 3% for the first time in a decade.
If these forecasts prove accurate, the Reserve Bank of Australia is more likely to follow other central banks and start raising official
interest rates in the months ahead.
Manufacturing PMI in November increased to roughly 50, hovering near the breakpoint between expansion and contraction.
Rising living costs have made it tricky for many Australians to make ends meet.
The presidential election in the US on 5 November could dominate headlines during October, before the next meeting of the Federal Reserve later that same week. Investors are already debating whether a further reduction in borrowing costs in the US could be announced following this meeting.