Tariff uncertainty weighs on US manufacturing, with export and import activity at multi-year lows in May. Oil jumps over 3% on geopolitical risk; Australia’s housing market bounces back in May, while job ads fall. Asian economies start showing diverging trade activity.
In in the first of two Deep Dive interviews into Australia’s agri commodity outlook, ANZ Commercial’s Head of Agri Business Mark Bennett looks at how Australia’s cattle farmers have been affected by different weather across the country.
5 things to know in 5 minutes:
Tariff policy uncertainty saw the US manufacturing ISM index fall 0.2 points in May. That meant activity contracted for the third straight month. ANZ Economist Bansi Madhavani says the index’s import measure hit a 16-year low, while the export gauge was its lowest in five years.
ANZ Indeed Australian Job Ads dropped 1.2% in May from April to its lowest level since May 2021. ANZ Economist Aaron Luk says the series has remained in a tight range since mid-2024, indicating ongoing resilience.
Darwin has jumped out in front of other Australian capital cities for house price growth in 2025, according to Corelogic’s latest data for May, says ANZ Economist Maddy Dunk.
The overall 0.5% lift in capital city house prices in May suggests softer growth in April of 0.2% was just a blip, Maddy says.
Two sets of export data from South Korea and Indonesia this week show how Asian economies are being affected differently by US tariffs, says ANZ Economist Krystal Tan. South Korean exports fell 1.3% in May from a year ago, affected by auto tariffs, while Indonesian data for April showed exports up 5.7%.
Cheers,
Alex (standing in for Bernard).
PS: Catch you tomorrow with the last of Australia’s partial Q1 GDP indicators ahead of the full figures being released later in the day.
