Australia's GDP expanded 0.6 percent on the quarter in the three months to June, picking up from the 0.3 growth recorded in the three months to March. GDP rose 1.8 percent on the year in the three months to June, up from 1.4 percent previously.

Household spending rose 0.9 percent on the quarter, up from 0.4 percent previously, while private investment was flat after a previous increase of 0.7 percent. Public investment, however, fell 0.2 percent on the quarter, while net trade made a small contribution of 0.1 percentage points.

Today's data cover the period in which officials at the Reserve Bank of Australia continued to easy policy settings, with an initial rate cut in February, followed by another in May. It also covers the initial period following the increase in tariffs on Australian imports by the Trump Administration in early April. GDP growth appears to have been impacted only modestly by these developments, but this impact may build in the second half of the year. The RBA forecasts quarterly around 0.6 percent to 0.7 percent per quarter in the next two quarters, with annual growth rate forecast to be 1.7 percent for 2025.

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the broadest measure of aggregate economic activity and encompasses every sector of the economy and is usually released early in the third month after the reference period.

GDP is the all-inclusive measure of economic activity. Investors need to closely track the economy because it usually dictates how investments will perform. Stock market Investors like to see healthy economic growth because robust business activity translates to higher corporate profits. The GDP report contains a treasure-trove of information which not only paints an image of the overall economy, but tells investors about important trends within the big picture. These data, which follow the international classification system (SNA93), are readily comparable to other industrialized countries. GDP components such as consumer spending, business and residential investment, and price (inflation) indexes illuminate the economy's undercurrents, which can translate to investment opportunities and guidance in managing a portfolio.

Each financial market reacts differently to GDP data because of their focus. For example, equity market participants cheer healthy economic growth because it improves the corporate profit outlook while weak growth generally means anemic earnings. Equities generally drop on disappointing growth and climb on good growth prospects.

Bond or fixed income markets are contrarians. They prefer weak growth so that there is less of a chance of higher central bank interest rates and inflation. When GDP growth is poor or negative it indicates anemic or negative economic activity. Bond prices will rise and interest rates will fall. When growth is positive and good, interest rates will be higher and bond prices lower.