Second consecutive fall.
ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence took a modest downturn last week with a 1.5% drop, and followed a decline of 1.1% the previous week. All of the confidence sub-indices were down, with the exception of an unchanged ‘time to buy a household item’ reading.
Current finances declined 2.7%, while future finances dropped 1.5%. This compares to up-ticks of 3.7% and 1.3% respectively for the previous week. Economic conditions sub-indices were also down; with current economic conditions falling 1% and future economic conditions dropping 2.6%. This week’s moderation comes on the back of falls of 3.6% and 1.7% respectively last week.
Acknowledging the developments in the past week were mixed, ANZ head of Australian economics, David Plank, said the NAB monthly business survey remained soft, though some of the details on the labour market were better. “The strong bounce in ANZ job ads was not reflected in consumer sentiment.
“However, on a lighter note, the disappointing outcome of the England-Australia cricket world cup match could have dented the confidence of some respondents. More seriously, it is pleasing that overall confidence remains above average with respondents still reasonably positive about their own financial circumstances,” he said.