Australia Westpac consumer confidence index to gauge households’ reaction to the Federal Budget

The Australia Westpac consumer confidence index (01.30 BST) will be one of the first opportunities to gauge households' reaction to the Federal Budget. 

The small business package in particular appears to have been well received, but it is unlikely to  reverse the recent downward trend in confidence. 

"As such, we have pencilled in a small fall in the Westpac measure of confidence to 95.0 in May, from 96.3 in April. However, the rise in the weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan measure of confidence suggests the risks to our forecast are on the upside." says Capital Economics