Consumer confidence: weak start to December

Consumer confidence decreased 0.3pts, the four-week moving average was also down 0.3pts.

Among the mainland states, confidence rose in Victoria, Queensland, and SA, while it fell in NSW and WA.

'Weekly inflation expectations’ rose 0.2ppt to 5.6%, while the four-week moving average remained at 5.5%.

‘Current financial conditions’ dropped 3.1pts, while ‘future financial conditions’ jumped 9.1pts after a 3.8pts fall the week before.

‘Current economic conditions’ were up 1.6pts and ‘future economic conditions’ fell 0.5pts.

The ‘time to buy a major household item’ subindex plunged 8.7pts, more than reversing the 7.1pts gain from the previous week.

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ANZ Senior Economist, Adelaide Timbrell said commented: “A serious turnaround in inflation would likely be required to see ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence move meaningfully higher in 2024. The overall index remained practically unchanged last week ahead of the December RBA Board meeting, continuing the very long weak streak. We expect the RBA to hold.

The Black Friday bounce in the ‘time to buy a household item’ subindex in the previous week faded, offsetting the positive impact of better future financial conditions confidence during the week. Weekly confidence among those paying off their homes surpassed renters for the first time since October 2022, but those paying off their homes are still the least confident by far on a four-week average.”

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