This week's update focuses on Westpac-MI consumer sentiment for March and the ECB's March meeting. On consumer sentiment, family finances are under pressure, and this is impacting households' willingness to spend and their investment preferences. Perceptions of the housing market look to be stabilising though. In Europe, the ECB met... Show More
The Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment fell by 0.8% in December from 101.7 in Show More
In this week's Weekly, Chief Economist Bill Evans discusses the substantial positive impact that the Federal leadership change has had on Consumer Sentiment. This is despite the announced increase in mortgage rates. However, on the horizon is tax change. This week is a quieter week for data, although we will... Show More
The Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment rose by 3.9% in November from 97.8 in October Show More
Business conditions remained above average in September as confidence reversed its August decline. In contrast, despite improving in October on more favorable political conditions and gains in financial markets, the Westpac-MI consumer sentiment index remained below the 100 benchmark, implying pessimists outnumber optimists. This is the 18th month of the... Show More
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment increased by 4.2% in October from 93.9 in Show More
This week, with the aid of detail from the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment survey, Chief Economist Bill Evans seeks to assess the housing market and the impact it is having on consumer confidence. While expectations of further interest rate relief seem absent, house prices remain a supportive factor for confidence.... Show More
The NAB business survey reported a pullback in business conditions and confidence in July; however, conditions remained above long-run average levels, while confidence was broadly in line. Of the sub-components of conditions, trading conditions and profitability both remain robust, but the employment index is clearly lagging well behind. Turning to... Show More
As highlighted by Chief Economist Bill Evans, this is a very surprising result. Movements of the Index of this Show More
This week, Chief Economist Bill Evans discusses the policy outlook, with a focus on trend growth; the unemployment rate; and the consequences for rates. The July Westpac-MNI Chinese Consumer Sentiment report will give a clear read on the implications of recent equity market declines for Chinese households. And over in... Show More
The Westpac-MI index of Consumer Sentiment fell by 3.2% in July to 92.2. The index has now been below 100 for 15 of the past 17 months, signalling pessimism remains firmly entrenched. Given developments in Greece and China in the past month, the result is not a surprise. Sentiment around... Show More
The Westpac–Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment fell 6.9% in June from 102.4 in May to 95.3 in June. It now appears that last month’s surge of optimism was a brief ‘relief rally’ following the RBA’s May rate cut and a Budget that was less ‘damaging’ than many feared. Individual... Show More
The take out from last week's Q1 GDP report was the weakness apparent in household consumption. Combined with the poor 2015/16 Capex print the week before, the GDP report highlighted that the risks to the outlook for the Australian economy and the RBA policy outlook are to the downside. Key... Show More
Job security a key factor for consumer sentiment and essential for growth transition. Michael Blythe, Chief Economist at CBA, says job security is a data set he will watch closely in 2015. I will be watching measures of job security very closely. I think elevated fears explain much of the... Show More
Sunset Strip | Aussie market was back on the positive run with solid global sentiment. Aussie yield stocks continue move up while the miners remained in the positive territory despite falling Iron Ore and China property worries. We continue to feel that RBA is currently trying to curb asset prices... Show More
Sunset Strip | Aussie market delivered a flat day despite the positive global lead. We continue to be negative in the short term as we have not seen any substantial earnings upgrade to change the valuation bands. We remain positive long term, but short term bumps are expected when market... Show More