Australia: Consumer confidence edges up – ANZ

According to the analysts at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), the Australian “confidence edged up a touch last week, reversing the prior week’s decline. It remains well below average.”

Key Quotes:

“Overall financial conditions were little changed, with offsetting moves in ‘current’ and ‘future’ finances.

We also saw offsetting moves in economic conditions. ‘Current economic conditions’ gained 2.1%, while ‘future economic conditions’ declined 2.5% last week.

‘Time to buy a major household item’ gained 2.7% compared to a decline of 2.4% previously. The four-week moving average of ‘inflation expectations’ was up by 0.1ppt to 4.0%.

The weekly reading rose to 4.2%, its highest level since early September, perhaps reflecting the lift in headline inflation reported in the December 2019 CPI report.”