NAB Morning Call

Friday 23rd May 2026

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This week Phil sits down with NAB’s Gareth Spence and JBWere’s Glen Bertram to unpack the ramifications of the federal budget's aggressive pivot away from established property tax incentives. The panel deconstructs how ditching the 50% capital gains tax discount in favour of a cost-base indexation system, paired with a new 30% minimum tax rate, rewrites the wealth creation playbook for Australian property investors. What impact does limiting negative gearing to new builds have on the pricing and rental yields of established dwellings? Will the changes shift investment away from property – even more money going into super, for example? More importantly, will the impacts be as profound as many are making out?
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Friday 22nd May 2026

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NAB’s Ken Crompton discusses the unexpected softening in the Australian labour market, where the unemployment rate climbed to 4.5% alongside a loss of 19,000 jobs. Ken points out that this surprising shift shows firms are pausing hiring plans due to global headwinds and the ongoing disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. While U.S. markets showed some resilience on the back of tech earnings, Europe faces deep contractionary pressures with manufacturing and services data turning weak. This sudden domestic downturn removes the immediate urgency for the RBA to lift interest rates again, pushing market expectations for the next potential hike out to August.
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Thursday 21st May 2026

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There were strong moves in positive sentiment today as several vessels sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, accompanied by hopes of some sort of deal with Iran. Brent Crude dropped in price and bond yields fell, particularly in Europe. NAB’s Gavin Friend says yields had started to fall on the back of weaker than expected CPI data in the UK. The Fed’s minutes this morning showed more members leaning towards rate rises this year. Australian employment data is out today. The unemployment rate is likely to remain at 4.3%, but it was so close to 4.2% last time that’s a possibility too. And NVIDIA earnings beat expectations, but the forecast wasn’t as bullish as some had hoped.
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Wednesday 20th May 2026

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The worry from just about everywhere is that when there’s a supply shock, companies are quicker to pass on the costs to their customers than they would in ordinary times. The RBA said as much in a paper yesterday. NAB’s Ray Attrill says that’s why NAB now expects another rate rise next month. Others are saying the same thing about inflationary worries, including the BoJ’s Gov Ueda yesterday, but is it concerning enough for him to raise rates? Meanwhile, President Trump’s TACO moment over planned attacks on Iran means the world continues to watch oil reserves dwindle and prices steadily rise.
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Tuesday 19th May 2026
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A stark geographic division has opened up in global markets as US and European assets move in entirely opposite directions. Phil talks to NAB's Skye Masters about this pronounced division, noting that while inflation fears have sent US equities tumbling and pushed 10-year Treasury yields above 4.6% to a one-year high, European shares are rallying and bond yields are falling. This market fracture comes as geopolitical tensions reach a boiling point, with Brent crude pushing past $112 a barrel following reports that Donald Trump is convening his top national security team in the Situation Room to discuss military options against Iran. Meanwhile, a sense of political calm has returned to the UK after Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham ruled out altering Rachel Reeves' fiscal rules, a move that lowered gilt yields and sparked a 0.7% climb for the pound. This transatlantic divide completely overshadowed much softer-than-expected economic activity data out of China, leaving investors to brace for a highly volatile week ahead of the Fed minutes and Nvidia's upcoming earnings.
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