Australia’s ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence slips on worries over economic outlook

Australia’s ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence slipped 0.9 percent last week following a 2.2 percent bounce previously. The details were mixed, households were more optimistic about future financial conditions and the 'time to buy a household item', but this was more than offset by concern around the economic outlook.

Views towards current economic conditions deteriorated sharply by 6.8 percent to 101.9, its lowest value in 18 weeks. Future economic conditions were also hit, falling 3.6 percent to 108.7, a five-week low. Households’ views towards current financial conditions fell 3.1 percent last week partially unwinding the 6.4 percent rise previously.

Meanwhile, consumers were more optimistic about future financial conditions, which rose 2.8 percent to 130.2 – its highest since February 2017. The 'time to buy a household item' rose 4.2 percent last week to 139.9 – its highest value in eight weeks. Inflation expectations eased to 4.4 percent on a four-week moving average basis, with the latest weekly reading at 4.3 percent.

"Encouragingly, four out of five sub-indices remain above their long-term averages. In particular, after dropping sharply from its February high, the ‘time to buy a household item’ appears to be trending up again. Together with the stabilization of aggregate financial conditions, this may point to some resilience in consumer spending going forward," said Felicity Emmett, Senior Economist, ANZ Research.

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