27 Jan 2015
Australia: NAB's business confidence improves a touch
FXStreet (Bali) - NAB’s Monthly Business Survey for December 2014 saw business confidence pick up by 1 point to show a reading of 2 vs 1 the prior month, while business conditions stood at 4 vs 5 prior.
Key facts
"The Survey again shows a patchwork economy with little-to-no momentum building. In December, conditions eased for the second successive month after October’s surprisingly strong result. As a result conditions are now a touch below the long run average. Additionally, forward orders fell back significantly (broad based) suggesting soft demand conditions will continue in the near term. On the other hand, levels of capacity utilisation edged up a touch. The fall in conditions was driven by all three components (sales, profits and employment), with employment the weakest and now below long run averages - again pointing to sub-trend employment growth. By industry, the deterioration was particularly pronounced in construction and mining."
"Business confidence improved a touch, but was flat to one decimal point. More importantly confidence remains well below long run averages. Falls in commodity prices underlie substantial declines in mining confidence. Lower oil prices appear have contributed to a kick in optimism in transport/utilities firms (now the most confident). Most other sectors reported flat to improved confidence. As noted above, other leading indicators are not promising while the ‘bellwether’ wholesale industry remains very weak."
Key facts
"The Survey again shows a patchwork economy with little-to-no momentum building. In December, conditions eased for the second successive month after October’s surprisingly strong result. As a result conditions are now a touch below the long run average. Additionally, forward orders fell back significantly (broad based) suggesting soft demand conditions will continue in the near term. On the other hand, levels of capacity utilisation edged up a touch. The fall in conditions was driven by all three components (sales, profits and employment), with employment the weakest and now below long run averages - again pointing to sub-trend employment growth. By industry, the deterioration was particularly pronounced in construction and mining."
"Business confidence improved a touch, but was flat to one decimal point. More importantly confidence remains well below long run averages. Falls in commodity prices underlie substantial declines in mining confidence. Lower oil prices appear have contributed to a kick in optimism in transport/utilities firms (now the most confident). Most other sectors reported flat to improved confidence. As noted above, other leading indicators are not promising while the ‘bellwether’ wholesale industry remains very weak."