New Zealand ANZ Business Confidence rose to 11.8 in February’s preliminary reading, up from December’s 9.4. Own activity outlook rose to 22.3, up from 21.7. Looking at some more details, employment intensions rose to 10.6, up from8.8. Investment intentions improved notably to 17.8, up from 8.56. But export intensions dropped to 6.3, down from 10.3.
ANZ said: “We are forecasting wobble in demand in the first few months of this year as the true cost of the closed border for the tourism industry starts to become apparent. But it’s fair to say there’s not much sign of it yet, with the roaring housing and construction sectors filling the void, albeit fuelled by credit rather than foreign exchange earnings. Further monetary stimulus is looking less necessary by the week, and we no longer expect any more OCR cuts this cycle.”
