Westpac Consumer Confidence released by the Faculty of Economics and Commerce Melbourne Institute
- the level of sentiment that individuals have in economic activity reflecting respondents' evaluations of their family finances over the past and coming year, expectations about the one-year and five-year economic conditions and views about current buying conditions for major household items.
- Generally speaking, a high reading is seen as positive (or bullish) for the AUD, whereas a low reading is seen as negative (or bearish).
-3.5% m/m to a sad looking 92.1, a six-month low
- prior -3.1% to 95.4
Down for a second straight month in October, reading under 100 means pessimists increasingly outnumber optimists
- concerns about family finances
- speculation interest rates might not fall any further
- had been slowly picking up mid-year as the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates three times and inflation looked to be cooling
- last week the RBA skipped a cut and cautioned that inflation was running a little higher than expected
- economic outlook for the next year fell 2.5%
- economic outlook for five years up 1.4%.
