As a broad summary, the conclusion I would draw from these figures is that while Australia is very much linked into Asia (and particularly China) in respect of trade flows, in terms of investment flows it is mainly linked to the United Kingdom and the United States. 3. What does this mean for the Australian economy and Australian markets?
Let me start with financial markets. One does not have to follow financial markets too closely to know that developments in US financial markets have a big influence on our markets here in Australia. The correlation between the Australian and US stock markets, and between the Australian and US bond markets, is very high.