Australia shares up 0.1 Percent
MELBOURNE, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Australian shares rose 0.1 percent on Friday on gains in resource stocks, but escalating tension on the Korean penninsula and falls by bank and telecoms firm Telstra held the market back.
Global miner Rio Tinto was one of the day’s bright spots as it gained 1.2 percent to A$84.04 after metals prices rose. Its annual investor presentation later on Friday.
Australian Bank customers Faces Obstacles in Changing Banks
According to research that supports Government intervention for greater competition in retail banking, a poll conducted by Essential Research shows that despite a growing level of dissatisfaction with the major banks, consumers believe they face too many obstacles in changing institutions.
Of those surveyed, 37 per cent of customers of the big four – the Commonwealth, ANZ, Westpac and National Australia Bank – said they had considered leaving their bank following recent interest rate and fee increases.
NAB’s Payment to Customers is Delayed Due to Computer Glitch
NATIONAL A
ustralia Bank payments to customers were again delayed overnight after a computer glitch 24 hours earlier.
NAB carried out remediation work overnight to complete payment and transaction processing from yesterday morning’s disruption, and these transactions have now been processed.
But some payment processing originated yesterday had been delayed, including payments made to NAB customers and some payments from NAB to other banks’ customers.
NAB had begun processing these payments and transactions, the bank said in a statement.
RBA Indicated that Cash Rate Stays at its Current Level this Christmas
* December rate rise unlikely – Glenn Stevens
* “Rates at about the right level”
* May be on hold for months
THE Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has indicated that the cash rate is likely to stay at its current level of 4.75 per cent for the rest of the year, a parliamentary committee has heard.
Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor Glenn Stevens said market forecasts of a rate rise in February next year were realistic.
Identity Theft on the Rise
Research shows that 4.4 million Australians were affected by identity theft – an increase of 600 000 people in past year.
Recently released figures, from Veda Advantage, showing the incidence of identity theft in Australia is increasing, with 4.4 million Australians (26%) affected by identity theft compared to 3.8 million (23%) for the same period last year.
The report also found despite increasing attacks of identity theft, 67% of Australians have failed to take even simple measures to protect their identity. This is only a marginal improvement from the 70% of Australians who said they had not taken any steps to protect their identity in March 2008. Read more
Aussie dollar at record highs
The Australian dollar was trading around record highs on Thursday morning due to US dollar weakness after a decision by the US Federal Reserve to stimulate the American economy.
The Aussie powered to $1.0064, its highest since 1982, in the wake of the Fed’s move. It did briefly dip as deep as $0.9890 in the initial reaction to the US’s actions but then quickly rallied in wild trade.
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Surprising Rate Rise
Mortgage holders will have to dig deeper after the Reserve Bank decided this afternoon to lift interest rates by 0.25 per cent. It was a surprise move. Inflation figures out last week were lower than expected and most economists were predicting rates would remain on hold. Read more