Australia ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence recovers on households’ optimism about near-term financial conditions

Australia’s ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence recovered 2.2 percent last week, largely reversing the previous 2.5 percent decline. The improvement in sentiment was broad-based, with households particularly optimistic about near-term financial conditions.

Views towards current economic conditions edged up 0.3 percent. This sub-index remains well above its long-term average. Sentiment around future conditions rose 1.2 percent, undoing much of the 1.9 percent decline in the previous week.

Household sentiment towards current and future financial conditions improved materially last week (6.4 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively), following consecutive falls in the two previous weeks.

Further, the 'time to buy a household item' sub-index rose 0.8 percent to 134.2. Inflation expectations eased to 4.5 percent on a four-week moving average basis, with the latest reading at 4.1 percent.

"Overall confidence seems to have stabilised after trending down in February. The jobs report out later this week has the potential to impact confidence in the near term. Another solid report with a tick down in the unemployment rate (in line with our expectations) is likely to support confidence, over the coming weeks. That said, confidence is vulnerable to additional bouts of financial market volatility," said Felicity Emmett, Senior Economist, ANZ Research.

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