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Showing 111 - 120 of 645 results for "Consumer Confidence"

Australian business conditions gone gangbusters

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 15 NOV 2017
... the official cash rate was at 6.5% and rising. That's because us, Australians all, were feeling the love: consumer confidence was at 120.8 in July 2007 compared with 1014 in October 2017; retail spending was growing at annual rate of 7.7% compared with ...

BOE does what it said it would do

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 3 NOV 2017
... limited. The global economy is growing strongly, domestic financial conditions are highly accommodative and consumer confidence has remained resilient." But while the BOE's 2 November decision and its rationale heralds the beginning of normalisation ...

India's upside risks

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 10 OCT 2017
... investment activity, which is already hampered by stressed balance sheets of banks and corporates." Moreover, "Consumer confidence and overall business assessment of the manufacturing and services sectors surveyed by the Reserve Bank weakened in Q2 of ...

Profit margin squeeze

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 5 OCT 2017
... by consumers due to a mix of increased household electricity costs, flat income growth, and relatively poor consumer confidence." Yes, Virginia, we're back to the problem that is Australian consumers. Apart from record high household debt to disposable ...

Not happy enough

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 14 SEP 2017
... that economic conditions in Australia in 2018 will be consistent with the need for the Bank to raise rates." Consumer confidence Definition: Consumer confidence is a survey of consumer attitudes concerning both the present situation as well as expectations ...

Divergent business confidence

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 13 SEP 2017
... in retail spending is hardly surprising given stagnant wages growth, high household indebtedness and weak consumer confidence. The strong employment reported in the NAB survey is a positive for consumer spending going forward. So is the pick-up in labour ...

Higher and higher

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 4 SEP 2017
... build on over the coming quarters. Latest survey and data releases corroborate this. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index had strengthened in July (120.0) and August (122.9) compared with all three months of the second quarter - 119.4 in ...

Low-flation to lower-flation?

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 27 JUL 2017
... pensions) because most are indexed to inflation. This doesn't augur well for household income and by extension, consumer confidence and spending. Worse, it could lead to even lower inflation expectations further exacerbating the slowdown in spending. ...

Business conditions return to pre-GFC levels

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 12 JUL 2017
... according to RBA estimates, household debt-to-income ratio has risen to an all-time high of 189% -- and weak consumer confidence, underscored by the just-released Westpac-Melbourne Institute index of consumer sentiment. While consumer confidence improved ...

Confidence: the business/household divide

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 14 JUN 2017
... optimists (below 100). How long could business conditions and confidence hold up in the face of weakening consumer confidence and, by extension, consumer spending? The pessimistic view is that sluggish pay increases (and negative real wage growth) and ...