Australian business conditions remained sturdy in April, supported by robust sales and labour market strength despite high inflation and rising interest rates, while cost pressures were still posing a challenge for firms, Reuters reported. The survey from National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) released on Monday showed its index of business conditions fell two points to +14 in April, but stayed well above its long-run average. The volatile measure of confidence edged up to 0, compared with March's -1, suggesting that an equal share of firms were optimistic as pessimistic.

Australia’s central bank signaled further policy tightening ahead after unexpectedly raising interest rates by a quarter-percentage point on Tuesday, sending the currency and bond yields surging, Bloomberg News reported. The Reserve Bank increased its cash rate to 3.85%, the highest level since April 2012, in a decision predicted by only nine of 30 economists. Money markets rapidly revised up expectations for further moves and are now pricing in a rate of just under 4% by October, from around 3.6% before today’s decision.

Australia's biggest landlords and developers played down concerns about inflated commercial property valuations at a conference on Tuesday, while acknowledging economic uncertainty was making investors and renters more cautious, Reuters reported. Commercial real estate prices are a major concern for investors globally as public markets price the impact of a slowing economy and the growth of remote work, while owners, especially unlisted players, resist major changes.

Australia’s central bank is set to extend a pause in interest-rate increases on Tuesday following a deceleration in inflation that allows the board more time to assess the economic impact of its policy tightening to date, Bloomberg News reported. The Reserve Bank will keep its cash rate at 3.6% for a second straight month, most economists predict and money market pricing shows. Deutsche Bank AG and Westpac Banking Corp. were among those that switched to hold from hike calls after first-quarter core inflation came in under forecasts.

Australia’s consumer confidence surged and business sentiment showed ongoing resilience after the country’s Reserve Bank left its key interest rate unchanged for the first time in its almost yearlong tightening cycle, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer sentiment jumped 9.4% in April to 85.8, a Westpac Banking Corp. survey showed Tuesday. Still Westpac’s Chief Economist Bill Evans expects household spending this year to be lackluster with confidence remaining 10.4% below the level in April 2022, the month before the RBA began raising rates. A separate National Australia Bank Ltd.

Scott’s Refrigerated Logistics may have been insolvent nine months before its collapse, according to the company’s administrators McGrathNicol, the Financial Review reported. The Anchorage Capital Partners-owned transportation group – one of the largest in the country and a key supplier to retailers including Coles, Aldi and IGA – collapsed in late February. In a report lodged with the corporate regulator, McGrathNicol said it was also possible the company had been insolvent, on a cash flow basis, only a week before they were called in.

The head of Australia's prudential regulator said on Tuesday the country's banks were among the best placed in the world to handle a financial crisis, following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) that roiled international markets, Reuters reported.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority said on Monday it was seeking more information from Australian banks regarding any impact form the collapse of U.S. startup-focused lender SVB Financial Group, Reuters reported. "While the Australian banking industry has limited connections with the US-based Silicon Valley Bank, APRA is intensifying supervision of the local banking industry and is seeking more information from them on any potential impacts," APRA said in a statement.

Virgin Australia is in talks with banks for a loan of up to A$450 million ($296.4 million) to pay its private equity owner Bain Capital before the airline's re-listing planned for later this year, Reuters reported. Australia's second largest airline is in discussions with banks including Goldman Sachs and UBS about the loan, said the sources, although no decision has been made yet and the size of the debt has not been finalised.

Retail theft has hit record levels in Australia, government statistics show, putting pressure on grocery giants Woolworths Group Ltd and Coles Group Ltd that are already struggling with soaring supply costs and freight blockages, Reuters reported. Store theft rose 23.7% in New South Wales, the home state of a third of Australians, from 2021 to 2022, state government figures showed on Thursday, the fastest year-on-year increase since records began in 1995.