Australian building permits data for December down sharply - responses coming in

Building approvals for December 2017 data is here:

• Australia - Building permits data for December: -20% m/m (vs. expected -7.6%)

Urgly ...

• Westpac response (in brief)
• Dwelling approvals dropped back sharply
• An expected wind-back in Melbourne high rise approvals - a spike in which drove a 12.6% jump in Nov - was compounded by weakness in other segments
• Looking through recent volatility, trend approvals are again moving lower with non high rise approvals in Q4 down 3.5%yr
• Assessing trends in the erratic high rise segment is much trickier but site purchases point to a weak outlook
• ... Overall, the Dec data confirms both our assessment that the Oct-Nov surge was temporary 'noise' and that the underlying tone to approvals is weak.
• Note that data in coming months will be less reliable due to the January low season. Indeed, there may be even more volatility to come.

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Meanwhile, AUD fell to its (late US) low:

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