90 at 9: Australian GDP surprises; Gold hits US$978; BP hits gusher

Watch Video Here Bernard Hickey details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 90 in association with ASB, including data showing Australian GDP rose 0.6% in the June quarter, which was better than economists expectations for a 0.2% rise. Australia has managed to avoid an official recession That's great for us because it's our largest trading partner But it does mean a rate hike soon is more likely in Australia. It's the big question for recovering economies: when can they pull their stimulus back out. Meanwhile US Federal Reserve Minutes out overnight showed their economy was recovering, but was fragile. The Fed even discussed extending their money printing programme. There were 298,000 jobs lost in August, showing the US economy is not out of the woods yet. Meanwhile, the gold price rose US$22/oz, the most in 5 months, to US$978/oz and is now within striking distance of US$1,000/oz as investors fear September and October could be the months when the US dollar and US markets slump again. Finally, BP said it had found a giant new oil field under the Gulf of Mexico. It found the field with 3 billion barrels of oil after drilling the world's deepest well. The well is as deep as Mt Everest is high.