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Consumer sentiment soars to three year high, employment fears recede - Westpac Melbourne Institute; And Australian dollar hits three month high. But WA business confidence plunges.
Topic Started: 11 Sep 2013, 03:20 PM (4,467 Views)
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Bounce in business confidence reaches two-year high

Stephen McMahon
September 11, 2013 12:00AM

BUSINESS confidence has hit its highest level in over two years as corporate Australia starts to gets it mojo back despite conditions remaining depressed, according to a new private sector survey.

The bounce in confidence in every major sector and state during August ahead of the Coalition's election win helped push the stock market higher on Tuesday.

After two days of consecutive rises, the ASX 200 closed on Tuesday at 5201 points - just off its post global financial crisis high of 5220 that was hit in May.

The Australian dollar also moved higher against the greenback as the global outlook improves led by a strong rise in Chinese retail sales and factory output, which grew at its fastest pace in 17 months adding to signs of a pick-up in Chinese exports.

The National Australia Bank's monthly business survey, conducted prior to polling day, showed business confidence rose 9 points to 6, up from -3 in the previous month - this is its highest level since May 2011.

The Reserve Bank's rate cut in August and the weakening Australian dollar are credited with helping create the sixth-largest jump in the survey's history.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/companies/bounce-in-business-confidence-reaches-twoyear-high/story-fnda1bsz-1226716327172
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Consumer confidence slips after big rise

October 9, 2013 - 10:55AM
Glenda Kwek

Consumer confidence has fallen slightly for the month but remains a "solid result", following a jump in sentiment after the federal election, a private survey finds.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index fell 2.1 per cent to 108.3 in October after a 4.7 per cent rise in September.

It follows a second month of improving business confidence, according to a National Australia Bank survey released yesterday.

"This is a solid result," Westpac's chief economist Bill Evans said.

"The index is still 2.5 per cent above the level in August and 9.2 per cent above its level a year ago. Apart from last month it is the highest read for the index since March this year."

Mr Evans said the slight fall in the index could be due to an expected slide in positive sentiment following the federal election in early September, weakness in the stock market and a rise in the Australian dollar during the week of the survey.

He said concerns about a possible US government default on its debt obligations could also have weighed on sentiment.

The survey also found that respondents were less confident about their personal finances over the 12 months, with the sub-index falling 5.5 per cent. Respondents said their family finances were 0.7 per cent better than a year ago.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/consumer-confidence-slips-after-big-rise-20131009-2v798.html
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peter fraser
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Full Westpac Consumer Sentiment Report is HERE.

It's pretty strong despite a slight tempering after the election bounce.

Any expressed market opinion is my own and is not to be taken as financial advice
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Business confidence up but conditions weak

October 17, 2013 - 12:28PM
Glenda Kwek

Business confidence and conditions have continued to diverge, with sentiment rising to its highest level in two years even as conditions sank to their weakest in four years, a private survey has found.

The September quarter survey from the National Australia Bank, released this morning, found confidence was likely to have improved on the back of the federal election, a lower Australian dollar, record low interest rates and a stronger share market.

Even so, business conditions had deteriorated, with forward indicators remaining subdued while capital expenditure expectations, especially in the mining sector, were weak.

"The divergence in conditions and confidence measures has widened since the start of this year, suggesting businesses are optimistic but continue to be disappointed by lacklustre conditions," NAB chief economist Alan Oster said.

"Business conditions weakened across all industries in [the third quarter], except for manufacturing and recreation and personal services, where they improved modestly. Conditions weakened heavily in transport and utilities – a bellwether of demand – and wholesale."

The fall in conditions in the September quarter was driven by softer labour conditions and profitability, the survey found. The employment index continued its downward trend, slipping to a four-year low.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/business-confidence-up-but-conditions-weak-20131017-2vo0t.html
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Households 'sending a message' as consumer confidence goes backwards

February 12, 2014 - 10:54AM
Glenda Kwek

Australians are increasingly less confident about the future, despite low interest rates that are pushing up the value of their houses. A private monthly gauge of consumer sentiment has to its lowest levels since July.

Westpac-Melbourne Institute's consumer sentiment slipped for the third-straight month for its February reading, as Australians' expectations about the economy over the next year fell to the lowest level since March 2012.

Consumers’ expectations for the next five years along weakened to levels not seen since February 2009, the survey found.

"Households seem to be sending a fairly clear message in this survey," Westpac's chief economist Bill Evans said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/households-sending-a-message-as-consumer-confidence-goes-backwards-20140212-32gz4.html
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Consumer sentiment lowest since May: WBC

Elizabeth Redman

Consumer sentiment fell in March to its lowest level since May last year, a private survey shows.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute index of consumer sentiment slipped by 0.7 per cent in March to 99.5 points, compared with 100.2 in February.

The index has fallen 10.9 per cent from its November peak of 110.3 and is at its lowest point since May 2013, Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan said.

"The initial declines in December-January looked to be mainly the unwinding of the election-related sentiment boost," Mr Hassan said.

"More recent falls though have had a very clear theme centring on a sharp loss of confidence in the economic outlook and escalating job-loss fears.

"The run of ‘bad news’ around the motor vehicle industry, other manufacturers and Qantashas clearly rattled consumers."

Read more: http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2014/3/12/australian-news/consumer-sentiment-lowest-may-wbc
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Catweasel
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Catweasel say crikey,

Mouse watch a headline and it flutter along from emotion to a emotion,

on the other paw,

mouse plot on 2 the dimension,

and it can see the pattern,

but it the confused,

but it can the learn,

about what its beloved master and media,

serve it on daily the basis,

which it gobble in busy the manner.
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Consumers gloomy as fears over jobs and economy grow

March 12, 2014 - 12:31PM
Glenda Kwek

Australian consumers are increasingly worried about their jobs and the economic outlook, with the growing gloom expected to hurt their spending decisions.

"The run of 'bad news' around the motor vehicle industry, other manufacturers and Qantas has clearly rattled consumers," Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan said.

Westpac also reported "a severe loss of confidence around job security" for March.

The fall in sentiment came as official data showed that there were no increase in the new housing loans in January, which was below economists' expectations.

The total value of housing finance commitments was flat at the start of the year, with the number of loans granted at a seasonally adjusted 51,054. Analysts had expected it to rise by 0.5 per cent, Bureau of Statistics figures released this morning showed.

Meanwhile, despite recent disquiet about housing affordability and the influence of foreign investors on the local market, first home buyer activity made a slight comeback in January from last year's record lows.

The proportion of first home buyers edged up slightly to 13.2 per cent in January, above November's record low of 12.3 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/consumers-gloomy-as-fears-over-jobs-and-economy-grow-20140312-34lf7.html
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Perthite
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Someone better call the waaambulance for Pascoe et al.
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This is now serious: Joe, stop frightening the kiddies

March 12, 2014 - 2:21PM
Michael Pascoe

Posted Image

What was a somewhat bemusing sidelight of politics and consumer confidence has now become serious: the government has so peeved Labor supporters that they've tipped the consumer confidence balance to negative.

As the accompanying graph shows from the demographic breakdown of the Westpac/Melbourne Institute consumer confidence index, Labor voters confidence has plunged below GFC levels. Joe Hockey's constant negativity and dire warnings have scared them more than the Great Recession.

As the official commentary states, the overall consumer sentiment index this month is down by 0.7 per cent to 99.5. On top of a 3 per cent fall in February, the proportion of pessimists now exceeds that of optimists for the first time since last May.

By far the biggest movement over the past year has been in Labor voters – a collapse of 33.4 per cent down to 84.5 per cent. The 13.5 rise in coalition voters' outlook has not been enough to make up for the slide in recent months.

The government might not like the people who do not support it, but the economy needs them nonetheless – particularly when the opinion polls indicate their numbers are growing.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/this-is-now-serious-joe-stop-frightening-the-kiddies-20140312-34lmt.html
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