ASX enthusiasts in gold investing got some good news last week. It was news that will make it easier to invest in the precious metal using the ASX.

Gold has always been a tricky asset to invest in. Investors have the option to buy physical gold bullion, of course. Always have. This involves buying bold coins or bars and storing them in one’s home. Or else paying someone else for the storage and security. But this is unattractive to many investors for obvious reasons.

So in recent years, another option has emerged for potential gold investors – buying gold through the ASX. Like many other commodities, there are now exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that one can use to get exposure to the yellow metal without the burden of actually owning the physical gold itself.

One popular such ETF is the ETFS Physical Gold ETF (ASX: GOLD). This fund, run by ETF Securities, allows investors to buy units that represent the physical ownership of gold. According to the provider, each unit is “backed by physically allocated gold bullion held by JPMorgan Chase Bank” in London.

In addition: “Each physical bar is segregated, individually identified and allocated which means there is no credit risk. Investors can choose to redeem units for the physical holdings.”

Buying gold on the ASX

So it’s perhaps no surprise that many investors now prefer this simpler method of investing in gold. This GOLD ETF now has close to $2.6 billion in assets under management.

But it might soon be even easier to invest in this ETF. At the present time, one unit of GOLD will set an investor back $239.59 at the time of writing.

Now that might not be as expensive as a CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share. But it’s still a fair chunk of change, and could potentially price some investors out of this ETF. Well, that’s about to change.

What’s new?

ETFS released an ASX notice last week that informed investors that this ETF is about to undergo a stock split. Here’s what the provider said in its ASX notice explaining why this move is occurring:

The share split is being conducted to reduce the per share price of GOLD, from its current range of approximately $230–$260 in 2022 year–to–date, by a factor of 10, to a level that is more in–line with to other ASX–quoted exchange traded products (“ETPs”). The company understands that retail and smaller investors are increasing using ETPs to construct portfolios. A lower per share price is anticipated to have wider appeal to smaller investors.

Further, GOLD is being increasingly used by investors in portfolio construction, either self–directed, advised or model–based. A lower per share price allows these users to more precisely manage their portfolio allocations.

GOLD ETF divides to conquer

So this move is clearly being designed to widen the appeal of the GOLD ETF for investors. If you’re an existing GOLD investor, don’t worry. A stock split like this doesn’t actually reduce the value of your investment. It just divides it into an increased number of smaller shares (or units in this case).

This change will be effective on 8 June. It means that any existing investor will receive nine additional units for every one owned. This is the date we will also see the unit price of GOLD decrease by a factor of 10 (today’s current pricing would change to approximately $23.60 per unit).

So if you’ve been looking for an ASX-listed path to investing in gold, this one just got wider.

The post It’ll be much easier to buy gold on the ASX on Wednesday. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Audinate Group Ltd (ASX: AD8) share price is see-sawing today, as the company releases its latest trading update forecasting a jump in revenue.

The audio visual networking company is expecting FY22 revenue to exceed US$30 million versus the US$25 million from the previous year.

Investors appear torn by the news with the Audinate share price flip-flopping between gains and losses. It’s currently up 0.43% at $7.03, after bouncing from red to green and back every 30 minutes throughout trade on Monday. Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has shed 0.4%.

Muted response from the Audinate share price

Management noted that trading conditions in March and April have continued through May. The company had been hit by chip shortages in the first two months of calendar 2022, which crimped sales.

But Audinate managed to build up its inventory of chips used in its Brooklyn and Broadway products in March.

This resulted in strong ongoing grading conditions in April. Although, gross margins could be negatively impacted by the additional purchase of the chips.

The company said in its ASX announcement:

We continue to actively manage a challenging supply chain environment. Audinate will use the upcoming InfoComm tradeshow 1 in Las Vegas from 8th-10th June 2022 to brief our manufacturing customers and end-users on the actions we have been taking to manage and mitigate chip shortages.

High growth hurdle

The Audinate share price could be facing pressure as some investors may have been hoping for more than a 20% plus increase in revenue. After all, the ASX tech company is in a high-growth sector.

But management hasn’t quite stated how much above US$30 million sales could hit. Also, the weaker Australian dollar could help as well, with the exchange rate around 4% better than at last year’s results.

Can the Audinate share price overcome supply chain headwinds?

Audinate has also implemented strategies to overcome the global chip shortage challenge. It’s lobbying its strategic chip making partners to increase allocation of chips for its products. These partners include Xilinx, NXP and SkyWorks (formally Silicon Labs).

The company has also announced the new generation of products to replace its existing offering. This includes Brooklyn 3, which replaces Brooklyn 2; and Fremont 3, the replacement for the Dante AV Fremont module.

Lastly, Audinate is focusing on ramping sales of its software solutions, such as Dante Embedded Platform and Dante IP Core.

The Audinate share price has not been spared from the recent tech sell-off despite its dominant position in its industry. Audinate shares have lost close to 10% over the past year, while the ASX 200 has shed less than 1%.

The post Audinate share price stumbles on trading update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• It’ll be much easier to buy gold on the ASX on Wednesday. Here’s why
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• Why is the Adore Beauty share price sliding 6% on Monday?
• Guess which ASX mining share just rocketed 100% on a record find
• Goldman Sachs says beaten-up Megaport share price has 100% upside

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau has positions in AUDINATEGL FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended AUDINATEGL FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended AUDINATEGL FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Can you buy Canva shares on the ASX? Good question.

Canva is an Australian ‘unicorn’ that has drawn quite a lot of attention over the past few years. It even managed to achieve a whopping US$40 billion ($55 billion) valuation last year, which, as we covered at the time, made it more valuable than Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW), and even Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS).

That’s pretty impressive for a company that was only founded in 2013. Such breakneck growth might elicit some envy and fear of missing out for many ASX investors, especially those with a penchant for fast-growing ASX tech shares.

Is Canva an ASX share?

So can you buy Canva share on the ASX then? Well, unfortunately, the answer is no.

Canva is not listed on the ASX, meaning ordinary investors like you or me are locked out of Canva. Unlike that other posterchild of hard-to-get ASX tech – Atlassian plc (NASDAQ: TEAM) – we can’t even hop over the Pacific and buy Canva shares on the US markets. Canva remains a completely private company, unavailable for investment by anyone who isn’t a large, institutional venture capital investor.

That might not be such a bad thing at the present time though. According to reporting in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) last week, Canva has not escaped the savage selloff we have seen across many tech shares of late. Its US$40 billion valuation has certainly been re-appraised.

According to the report, many of Canva’s institutional investors have slashed their valuations of the company. Some are now seeing Canva as worth between US$32 and US$36 billion. One investor has reportedly slashed its valuation for Canva down to US$16.6 billion. That latter valuation translates into a fall of almost 60% from September last year.

So perhaps ASX investors should be grateful they haven’t been able to buy Canva shares yet.

But whatever your feelings, it’s certainly not likely that Canva shares will be on the ASX any time soon, given the state of the current markets. But who knows what the future might bring?

The post Can you buy Canva shares on the ASX? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Adore Beauty share price sliding 6% on Monday?
• Guess which ASX mining share just rocketed 100% on a record find
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• 3 ASX 200 shares trading ex-dividend today

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Atlassian and Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Atlassian. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET and Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Adore Beauty Group Ltd (ASX: ABY) share price is nursing some losses today as the company looks to get the boot.

It appears revenue growth alone isn’t enough to retain a spot in the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX). After suffering through a 68% fall in its share price, Adore Beauty is slated for removal from the index in the latest quarterly rebalancing.

The online cosmetics retailer is not alone in its abandonment by the tech-focused index. Joining in the rejection are nine other ASX-listed companies that failed to meet expectations.

Paltry profits don’t cut it

Since bursting onto the ASX scene in October 2020, Adore Beauty has delivered substantial improvements to its total revenue. However, the market has shifted during this time to be more appreciative of present profits rather than promised profits.

The online beauty and skincare product retailer has been unable to maintain a meaningful margin in the last 12 months. At the end of 2020, Adore Beauty achieved $4.49 million in earnings, representing a 2.7% earnings margin. However, this shrunk to a slim 0.1% margin by the end of 2021.

As a result, the Adobe Beauty share price has undergone heavy erosion since its addition to the ASX tech index back in March last year. The removal will be put into effect prior to the market opening on 20 June 2022.

Ultimately, this means funds tracking the All Tech Index will no longer need to hold Adore Beauty shares. In turn, the company is likely to be weighed down by selling pressure as these positions are liquidated.

On the bright side, the company still maintains its position in the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

How does the Adore Beauty share price compare?

Despite the fall in the Adore Beauty share price, it still appears relatively rich at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 467. Potentially investors are more prone to valuing the company on the price-to-sales ratio, given that it is currently prioritising growth.

In terms of P/S multiple, Adore sits between ASX-listed peers Cettire Ltd (ASX: CTT) and Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL) at 0.7 times sales.

The post Why is the Adore Beauty share price sliding 6% on Monday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Cettire Limited and REDBUBBLE FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Adore Beauty Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Adore Beauty Group Limited and Cettire Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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It’s a good day for those invested in this ASX mining share – the company has just struck a high-grade copper zone in Chile. The Culpeo Minerals Ltd (ASX: CPO) share price is leaping higher on the back of the find.

At the time of writing, the company’s stock is swapping hands for 31 cents apiece. That’s 93.75% higher than it was at Friday’s close.

The Culpeo Minerals share price has settled after reaching an intraday high of 34 cents, representing a 112.5% gain.

Let’s take a look at today’s news from the Chile-focused copper explorer and developer.

ASX mining share surges on its best copper find to date

The share price of ASX miner Culpeo Minerals is taking off on the back of assay results from the company’s Lana Corina Copper Project.

The company’s third drill hole at the project has identified a wide high-grade zone of copper mineralisation.

It intersected 173 metres at 1.05% copper and 50 parts per million of molybdenum – a record for the company’s work at the project.

The results also confirmed the mineralisation continues at depth.

Culpeo Minerals also identified a high-grade molybdenum zone. Assays for the zone recorded 85 metres at 1,367 parts per million molybdenum and 0.07% copper.

Culpeo Minerals managing director Max Tuesley commented on the news driving the company’s share price on the ASX:

The intersection of 173 metres of copper mineralisation at a grade of 1.05% [copper] is the highest-grade intercept to date from the ongoing drilling program.

Additionally, adjacent to this high-grade copper mineralisation we are seeing significantly elevated molybdenum that likely indicates the presence of a deeper mineralised source, associated with the dioritic intrusives that host the breccia system and adds significant exploration potential.

The company signed an agreement for the right to acquire up to 80% of the Lana Corina project in March.

The company’s previous drill holes from the project returned assays including:

• 104 metres at 0.74% copper, 73 parts per million molybdenum from 155 metres, and
• 257 metres at 0.95% copper, 81 parts per million molybdenum from 170 metres

The post Guess which ASX mining share just rocketed 100% on a record find appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) share price has struggled in the past month, but could it go higher?

Megaport shares are currently trading at $6.31, a 3.37% fall. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is 0.34% in the red today.

Let’s check the outlook for Megaport.

Could the Megaport share price recover?

Megaport shares have plummeted 26% in the last month but one global investment firm is predicting a turnaround.

Megaport is a a global connectivity company with more than 700 data centres around the world.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs have rated the Megaport share price as a buy and have placed a $13.10 price target on the company’s shares. This represents a 107% upside on the current share price.

The company is tipped to expand rapidly in the future as public cloud adoption and multi-cloud usage increase. Goldman sees Networking as a Service (NaaS) as a key driver of the company’s growth in the future.

The broker sees these factors could create a $129 billion per year market opportunity for the company overall.

Megaport reported $27.9 million in revenue in the third quarter of FY22, a 5% or $1.4 million boost on the previous quarter. The company also reported it had $88.8 million of cash available.

Megaport sold 1577 new services in the quarter, up 6% on the previous quarter, to take total services to 25,936. More uptake of multi-cloud connections via the Megaport Cloud Router and Megaport Virtual Edge products contributed to this growth.

Share price snapshot

The Megaport share price has descended 58% in the past year, while it has fallen 66% in the year to date.

For perspective, the ASX 200 has shed more than 1% in the past year.

Megaport has a market capitalisation of $987 million based on its current share price.

The post Goldman Sachs says beaten-up Megaport share price has 100% upside appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The best performer on the ASX 200 on Monday has been the Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX: TAH) share price.

In afternoon trade, the gambling company’s shares are up 5% to 98.5 cents.

This compares favourably to a 0.4% decline by the ASX 200 index.

Why is the Tabcorp share price charging higher?

Investors have been bidding the Tabcorp share price higher today following the release of an announcement.

In 2019, the racing body commenced legal proceedings against Tabcorp in relation to disputes concerning the calculation of fees payable by Tabcorp following the introduction of point of consumption tax (POCT) in Queensland in 2018.

According to today’s release, Tabcorp and Racing Queensland have entered into an agreement to settle the legal proceedings. This agreement will see Tabcorp pay Racing Queensland and the Queensland Government a combined total amount of $150 million (excluding GST).

Tabcorp has prepared for this by previously disclosing a contingent liability of $75 million post tax and $108 million pre-tax.

Queensland wagering industry reforms

The aforementioned settlement remains conditional upon the commencement of legislation that will implement proposed reforms by the Queensland Government.

These proposed reforms relate to the wagering taxation and racing industry funding model and include an increase to the POCT rate to 20%, payable by wagering operators.

Upon these reforms taking effect, key industry agreements with Racing Queensland will terminate, resulting in a level playing field and Tabcorp paying wagering taxes and racing product fees on the same basis as other wagering operators.

This is a bigger positive for the company than it might first seem and explains why the Tabcorp share price is charging higher today.

Tabcorp’s Managing Director and CEO, Adam Rytenskild, was very pleased with the news. He explained:

Online betting has changed the market substantially since TAB’s licences were issued. On a relative basis, TAB currently pays double the fees to the local racing industries compared to other wagering operators. Going forward we will all pay the same in Queensland. I commend the Queensland Government for delivering fair and much needed reforms that bring the wagering market into line with the modern economy.

The post Why is the Tabcorp share price racing higher today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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A number of popular ASX 200 shares are falling today despite no news coming from the companies.

As we move through the month of June, we’ll see a number of ASX shares trading ex-dividend.

The ex-dividend date is when investors must have purchased a company’s shares beforehand to be eligible for its upcoming dividend. If an investor buys the shares on or after this date, the dividend will go to the seller.

Below, we take a look at the list of shares that are trading ex-dividend today.

Incitec Pivot Ltd (ASX: IPL) shares are down 2.71% to $3.59 after trading ex-dividend today.

The fertiliser and commercial explosives manufacturer recorded a robust half-year result last month.

As such, the board declared a fully-franked interim dividend of 10 cents per share. This will be paid to eligible shareholders on 5 July.

Champion Iron Ltd (ASX: CIA) shares are also going ex-dividend on Monday, hovering 2.42% lower to $7.65.

The Canadian miner released its full-year results in late May, delivering solid revenue and earnings growth.

The board announced an unfranked final dividend of C$0.10 (A$0.11) per share. But you will have to wait until 28 June for your payout if eligible.

ALS Ltd (ASX: ALQ) shares are also trading without the rights to the company’s partially-franked final dividend.

At the time of writing, the company’s share price is $12.59, down 1.64%.

The testing services company dropped its full-year results on 25 May, with the board declaring a 17 cent per share dividend.

Shareholders will be paid this dividend on 4 July.

The post 3 ASX 200 shares trading ex-dividend today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Galileo Mining Ltd (ASX: GAL) share price is heading south on Monday despite the company’s drilling announcement.

It appears the broader All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is weighing down investor sentiment today with a 0.41% loss. This comes after Wall Street recorded heavy falls late last week.

At the time of writing, Galileo shares are down 7.87% to $1.64.

Galileo commences exploration activities

Investors are driving down the Galileo share price regardless of the news that the company has started drilling operations.

According to its release, Galileo advised that reverse circulation drilling is underway at its Callisto discovery. The site is located in the Norseman Project area in Western Australia.

The company plans to drill 20 holes for a depth of around 200 metres to target the sulphide zone.

In total, the 4,000-metre program is scheduled to run for approximately five weeks.

The miner expects to test priority targets as a follow up to the recent palladium-platinum-gold-nickel-copper-rhodium sulphide intersections.

The drilling results, along with the laboratory assays, will be provided from late July 2022.

Galileo managing director Brad Underwood touched on the company’s drilling program:

It is great to be back drilling at Callisto so soon after the release of results from the first drill program in May.

The current drilling aims to expand on the early results with drilling designed at a 50-metre spacing across strike to be followed by drill lines along strike to the north.

The mineralisation intersected to date contains palladium, platinum, gold, copper, nickel, and rhodium, and the grades appear to be increasing towards the eastern target zone.

Galileo share price summary

The past couple of months have seen Galileo shares rocket from around the 20 cent mark to $1.72.

The company’s share price reached a 52-week high of $1.95 last month.

Year to date Galileo shares are up an impressive 660%.

Galileo has a market capitalisation of roughly $318 million, with 178.8 million shares on its registry.

The post Galileo share price dips 7% despite project milestone appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meets tomorrow for its monthly interest rate decision.

Last month, as you’ll recall, the RBA opted to raise the official cash rate for the first time in a decade. The benchmark interest rate was lifted from the historic low of 0.10% to the current 0.35%.

While the 0.25% hike fell in the middle of consensus expectations, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) still fell 0.4% on the day.

Why are rates going up?

Do you remember that ‘stubbornly missing’ inflation central banks were desperately trying to stoke? Or even the occasional fearful murmurings of, gasp, deflation? How about negative interest rates?

Astoundingly, all of those were still on the cards just a year ago.

But no more.

Inflation figures in Australia hit 5.1% in the first quarter of 2022, well above the RBA’s target range of 2% to 3%. And according to new Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers, inflation is likely to move higher from here, putting pressure on the RBA for further interest rate hikes.

According to Chalmers (quoted by The Daily Telegraph):

It’s now really clear that the inflation challenge that Australians are facing is worse. People should anticipate that it will be higher than it is now. Significantly higher… This is the defining challenge in the economy. Not easily fixed, not easily addressed. But a challenge, which is even more substantial than my predecessors ’fessed up to.

What’s the RBA interest rate decision likely to be?

You’ll be hard-pressed to find any analysts predicting the RBA will hold off on a second consecutive monthly interest rate hike.

But how high can ASX investors expect the central bank to go?

According to market analyst at City Index Tony Sycamore:

The main uncertainty is whether the RBA lift the cash rate by 25bp to 0.60% as it did in May. Or a 40bp increase to 0.75%, back to where the cash rate was pre the COVID-19 pandemic and to realign with the 25bp increments it has historically moved the cash rate by.

Sycamore explained that ASX investors and analysts alike remain uncertain of the RBA’s upcoming move, largely because almost no one got the last 0.25% interest rate hike call correct.

A Bloomberg survey of 30 economists held before May’s RBA meeting revealed five economists thought the bank would hold off on raising the rate; 20 thought the RBA would boost the cash rate by 0.15%; and the other five forecast a 0.40% rate hike.

With the cash rate historically pegged in quarter percentiles, none of the 30 economists had predicted the 0.25% increase, which lifted the cash rate to an odd 0.35%.

As for tomorrow, the majority of economists are forecasting a 0.25% interest rate boost from the RBA while most of the rest believe we’ll see a 0.40% increase. This would bring rates back in line with the quarter percentile mark, at 0.75%. Goldman Sachs is the standout, with a hawkish forecast of a 0.50% rate hike tomorrow.

“Elsewhere the interest rate market is priced for 36bps of rate hikes next week and for the cash rate to reach 2.50% by year-end,” Sycamore said.

Noting that “the minutes from the May meeting showed the Board discussed three options, including a 40bp hike”, Sycamore concluded:

Considering all of the above, a 40bp rate hike is most likely on Tuesday that will take the cash rate to 0.75%. The RBA are then expected to deliver another 75bp of hikes (25bp each in July, August and November), taking the cash rate to 1.5% by year-end.

The post What to expect from the RBA interest rate decision this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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