Australia: Sharp fall in Q4 construction activity - Westpac
Andrew Hanlan, analyst at Westpac, points out that the Australian Q4 construction activity fell sharply by -3.1% due to downsides surprises in housing and public works.
Key Quotes
“Expectations were for a small rise (market median 0.5% and Westpac 0.4%).”
“With the construction sector accounting for 14% of the economy, the 3.1% drop in Q4 subtracts around 0.4ppts from overall activity. However, these partials do not always translate to the national accounts estimates 1-for-1 (particularly when the falls are relatively large).”
“The September quarter result for construction activity was downgraded, lowered to -3.6% from -2.8%.”
“The main surprises in the December quarter were around public and housing - with public construction activity falling, not rising; and with home building activity declining at a faster than anticipated pace.”
Author
Sandeep Kanihama
FXStreet Contributor
Sandeep Kanihama is an FX Editor and Analyst with FXstreet having principally focus area on Asia and European markets with commodity, currency and equities coverage. He is stationed in the Indian capital city of Delhi.
