Australian business confidence improved in the second quarter and reached its highest level since September quarter last year, survey figures from the National Australia Bank showed Thursday.
The NAB business confidence index climbed to 4.0 in the three months ended June from 0 in the previous quarter. The latest reading marked the highest level since the September quarter last year and consistent with the long-run average for the series.
The business conditions also improved in the June quarter, with the index rising slightly to 4.0 from 3.0 in the preceding quarter. Despite the rise in conditions, forward orders dropped in the second quarter, indicating only moderate momentum for business in the near term.
The employment index worsened in the second quarter, suggesting relatively modest rate of employment growth. The corresponding index fell to -1 from 0 in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the capacity utilisation rate remained unchanged at 80.9 percent in June quarter.
On the price front, product price inflation was relatively subdued at an annualized rate of 0.9 percent, reflecting both modest labour cost growth and softer purchase cost inflation. Final product price inflation held steady at 0.2 percent in the second quarter.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com