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AAP
AAP
Business
Poppy Johnston

Strong economic growth tipped with fresh data drop

Australia's latest growth report is expected to return another solid result despite the headwinds facing the economy.

The December quarter national accounts will be released on Wednesday after the Australian Bureau of Statistics issues various inputs into the gross domestic product (GDP) figures earlier in the week.

NAB economists expect to see 0.8 per cent quarterly growth and a 2.8 per cent annual increase in GDP in part thanks to resilient household spending.

Chief economist Alan Oster and his colleagues expect to see a large boost to net exports and a strong labour cost result as demand for workers remains strong.

"Looking forward, we expect growth to slow sharply from here, driven by flat to negative outcomes for consumption in the second half of 2023 as the full impact of higher rates and inflation flows through," they said.

The economists don't believe the GDP figure will do much to influence the Reserve Bank's interest rate decisions, however, and they expect the national accounts to confirm the broad-based inflationary pressures in the economy.

The ABS will release business indicator data on Monday, followed by trade accounts on Tuesday.

The bureau will also release January retail trade data on Tuesday, when the weekly survey from ANZ and Roy Morgan is expected to shed more light on consumer spending.

The January consumer price index figure will also compete for attention on Wednesday following a 8.4 per cent uplift in the monthly indicator in December.

Corelogic will release its home price report mid-week and RBA assistant governor Brad Jones will deliver a speech at the Institute of International Finance Australia Forum ahead of the March 7 cash rate decision.

The onslaught of ABS data continues on Thursday with a building approvals report, followed by lending data on Friday.

Wall Street posted sharp losses to end last week as inflation indicators pointed to the possibility of further aggressive interest rate hikes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 336.99 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 32,816.92 on Friday, while the S&P 500 lost 42.28 points, or 1.05 per cent, to 3970.04.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 195.46 points, or 1.69 per cent, to 11,394.94.

Australian shares edged marginally higher, although the rise wasn't enough to turn around a third consecutive week of losses.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 21.6 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 7307 on Friday, but it finished the week down 0.54 per cent.

The broader All Ordinaries closed 20.2 points higher, or 0.27 per cent, at 7,512.7.

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