Australia’s sharemarket lost ground on Wednesday, and the futures index suggests that negative momentum will continue this morning when trading begins.

This week we’ve seen the Reserve Bank lift the cash rate target to 4.1 per cent, and the Bureau of Statistics released its March quarter GDP figures that showed the Bank’s rate rises biting economic activity in the first three months of this year.

Economists are still absorbing the news, and there’s an increasing number of economists warning that it will be difficult to avoid a recession in Australia.

Some have also changed their forecasts for the cash rate, with a few now thinking the RBA won’t stop lifting rates until the cash rate hits 4.85%.

That means they expect to see three more hikes of 0.25 percentage points from here.

It’s fair to say that type of warning has changed the mood in Australia, and RBA governor Philip Lowe saying people shouldn’t fall into “a state of despair” because the labour market is still so strong.

But we’ll see what analysts say today, now they’ve had more time to absorb the news.