Australia and New Zealand Banking : Consumer confidence lifts

Confidence increased 0.8 per cent last week, perhaps due in part to the federal budget - though the absence of any additional COVID cases in Sydney also played an important role.

'Current financial conditions' rose by 1.6 per cent, while 'future financial conditions' were up 0.1 per cent.

In contrast, 'current economic conditions' fell by 3.1 per cent. This followed the record low levels of expectations for 'bad times' that this subindex registered last week. 'Future economic conditions' softened 1.1 per cent.

'Time to buy a major household item' gained 6.2 per cent, more than compensating for its loss last week and taking it to the highest level since February 2020.'Weekly inflation expectations' fell 0.3ppt to 3.6 per cent, pushing the four-week moving average down 0.1ppt to 3.7 per cent.