Consumer confidence increases ahead of RBA meeting
Consumer confidence increased by 1.8pts. Among the mainland states, confidence fell in the south-east (NSW, Victoria and SA) and rose in Queensland and WA.
‘Weekly inflation expectations’ fell 0.3ppt to 5.0%, while its four-week moving average was down 0.2ppt to 5.3%.
‘Current financial conditions’ rose 1.0pts, exceeding 70 for the first time since early March. ‘Future financial conditions’ gained 2.0pts.
‘Current economic conditions’ gained 2.3pts, while ‘future economic conditions’ jumped 4.0pts after three consecutive weekly declines.
‘Time to buy a major household item’ eased by 0.4pts but was still the second-strongest result since late February.
"While still in deeply negative territory, consumer confidence increased 1.8pts, the biggest weekly increase since mid-February," ANZ Senior Economist Adelaide Timbrell said.
"This was driven by outright homeowners, whose confidence jumped 3.7pts on average, compared with more modest increases among renters (+0.5pts) and those paying off their homes (+0.6pts). This may be due to an uptick in housing prices in March and April.
"Confidence about both finances and the economy rose during the week, with the strongest gain in confidence about ‘future economic conditions.’ Inflation expectations moderated to 5.0%, its lowest result since the first week of 2023."