Australian May business confidence -3 (prior 1.0)

National Australia Bank Business Survey for May 2024

Business Confidence -3

• prior revised to 2

Business Conditions 6

• prior 7
• conditions tends to be a more objective measure than the confidence (sentiment) measure

Ugly.

Inflation indications are not encouraging:

• Quarterly growth in retail prices jumped to 1.6% from 1.0%
• Increases in labour costs and purchasing costs up to 2.3% and 1.9%, from 1.5% and 1.3% previously

NAB comments:

• “Overall, the message here is a mixed one for the RBA
• There are warning signs on the outlook for growth but at
  the same time reasons to be very wary about the inflation
  outlook, and we expect the RBA to keep rates on hold for some
  time yet as they navigate through these contrasting risks.
• We have been wary for some time that the path of inflation from here is likely to be gradual and uneven, and the survey results really reinforce this message”

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