New Zealand ANZ Business Confidence was finalized at -13.4 in October, down from September’s -7.2. Own Activity Outlook rose from prior month’s 18.2 to 21.7. Export intentions rose from 7.4 to 8.6. Investment intentions rose from 9.2 to 13.8. Employment intentions dropped from 14.1 to 10.9. Cost expectations rose from 84.2 to 87.2. Pricing expectations rose from 58.1 to 65.5. Inflation expectations rose further from 3.02 to 3.45.
ANZ said: “Despite living week to week to some extent, firms appear to be getting on with it as best they can. There are clearly challenges, with costs extremely high and profits expected to fall, but more positively, activity expectations, investment intentions and employment intentions are holding up. The COVID situation remains unpredictable, however, and we’ll be watching closely for any evidence of that uncertainty derailing plans.”
