Consumer confidence up across the board

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence bounced a strong 5.6% last week to 123.0, following a 1.0% decline in the previous week. The details were positive, with all subindices posting gains.

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ANZ SENIOR ECONOMIST, JOANNE MASTERS, COMMENTED:

“It is encouraging to see confidence recover sharply after two straight weekly falls, particularly given that the improvement was broad based. On a weekly basis, confidence is now at its highest since mid-January.

This jump in confidence likely reflects favourable coverage of the strong Q1 GDP result, which appears to have trumped concerns about the weakness in house prices and rising global trade tensions. The fall in petrol prices last week may also have boosted confidence.

In the near term, we expect another strong jobs growth print later this week, which should act to consolidate this rise in consumer confidence. That said, geopolitical developments continue to evolve and have the potential to weigh on confidence. Looking forward, however, it will be interesting to see whether higher confidence translates into stronger spending, given a softening housing market, still low wage growth, high levels of debt and a low savings rate.”

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