Money Minute Monday 3 February: confirmation of a pickup in house prices

Good morning and welcome to Monday’s Money Minute, where we look ahead to this week’s biggest financial stories.

On Tuesday, Australia’s central bank announces its latest decision on interest rates.The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to hold its key interest rate at 0.75%, but markets still expect a cut later in the year.

In the UK, we get another housing market update, this time from Halifax. Recent data on the market has suggested that it is picking up quite strongly, and the Halifax figures will likely confirm that.

Try 6 free issues of MoneyWeek today

Get unparalleled financial insight, analysis and expert opinion you can profit from.

Start your trial

Sign up for MoneyWeek’s free twice-daily newsletter.

Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.

Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.

Sign up

And at the end of the week, in the US, we get the all-important non-farm payrolls data, where we’ll learn how many jobs the US economy added in January. In common with most other developed countries, the labour market in the US is currently very strong. The numbers to watch are the unemployment rate - currently at 3.5% - and the figure for wage inflation, currently at 2.9%.