New business confidence figures will be highly anticipated in the coming weeks.
There is no doubt the whole country was keen to get the election over and done with.
It now seems that there was some pre-election optimism
A new report released by the NAB shows that business confidence strengthened considerably in August, with the index rising to its highest level since May 2011.
This appears to have reflected expectations of political change & more certainty about future political frameworks.
However despite these improvements, business conditions and capacity utilisation remained poor, with retail conditions approaching GFC lows.
The labour market declined markedly & also forward indicators are still weak, with business struggling to pass on higher import costs from a lower AUD.
It will be very interesting to see the next set of data at the end of September to see whether the momentum of strengthened confidence continues.
http://business.nab.com.au/monthly-business-survey-august-2013-4565/
The graph below shows the numbers.
Leave a Reply