Australia NAB Business Confidence jumped sharply from -6 to 13 in September. Strong improvement was seen in New South Wales (up 52 pts to 27) and Victoria (up 16 pts to 5). Business Conditions, however, dropped from 14 to 5. Trading condition dropped from 20 to 10. Profitability condition dropped from 15 to 2. Employment confidence dropped from 9 to 1.
NAB said, “Interpreting this month’s results really depends if you are an optimist or a pessimist. Businesses are really looking forward to reopening, and confidence increased markedly on the back of NSW and Victoria’s reopening roadmaps. The rise in confidence suggests they see the roadmaps that have been announced as sufficient to allow activity to really rebound in the coming months.”
“Still, confidence is more about hope for the future than what is happening in the present. On that front, conditions really deteriorated which shows that lockdowns are taking a toll, despite the resilience the economy has shown through this period.”
