Australia January business confidence +4 (prior -2)

National Australia Bank business survey, for January 2025:

Business Confidence +4, improved on expectations of lower interest rates

• prior -2.0

Business Conditions +3

• prior 6.0
• sales (down 4 to 6) and profits (down 6 to -2) declined
• margin pressures, particularly in retail
• Alan Oster, NAB’s chief economist says “Cost pressures remain high for businesses, but they aren’t fully passing them on to consumers, which is weighing on profitability and overall business conditions”

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The survey provided conflicting signals on inflation:

• Labour costs accelerated to a quarterly pace of 1.8%.
• Purchase cost growth slowed to 1.1%.
• Retail prices rose at a 0.9% quarterly pace, up from 0.7% in December.

Meanwhile, capacity utilisation fell to 82.0% from 82.7%, indicating slightly more slack in the economy.

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.