Healthy growth in margin loan balances

John Kavanagh
Margin lenders had the rare experience of receiving some good news yesterday, when the Reserve Bank reported a substantial increase in activity in the June quarter.

According to the latest RBA margin lending figures, accounts balances grew from A$11.7 billion in the March quarter to $12.4 billion in the June quarter - an increase of 5.9 per cent.

Balances grew 8.7 per cent over the 12 months to June.

However, the number of margin loan accounts continued to fall - down two per cent to 144,000 quarter-on-quarter and down 4.6 per cent year-on-year.

The rate of margin calls, at 0.56 per 1000 clients per day, was unchanged from March to June.