Market Commentary and Intraday News

Australia Business Confidence Drops In August

251 days ago

(RTTNews) - Confidence among Australian businesses fell back in August after a solid improvement in July as weak outlook for commodity prices crushed confidence level in the mining industry, the National Australia Bank (NAB) said in its latest survey, published on Tuesday.

The business confidence index fell to -2 in August from 3 in July. Mining was the worst affected industry, although most sectors saw weaker confidence levels on the back of global uncertainty. A notable exception was retail where lower rates seem to have offset these impacts, NAB said.

At the same time, the business conditions index rose to 1 in August from -3 in July. However, the levels of activity remain subdued.

The improvement was driven by broad-based improvements in trading conditions, profitability and to a lesser extent employment. Businesses' demand for credit increased in August helped by RBA rate cuts over the past eleven months. However, overall lending conditions were difficult, the report said.

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