NZ consumer confidence ticks up slightly in June

NZ consumer confidence ticks up slightly in June

By Rebecca Howard

June 28 (BusinessDesk) - Consumer confidence ticked up in June, climbing back above the historic average.

The latest ANZ-Roy Morgan survey of consumer confidence rose 3.3 points in June to 122.6. The May figure had been a six-month low and the historical average for the series is 120.0.

Perceptions of current conditions rose 1.4 points to 127.6 while the future conditions index was up 4.6 points to 119.3.

“Despite the clearly cooling economy, confidence in the future of the economy lifted. This will have helped support the high proportion of people still thinking it’s a good time to buy a major household item, which will be supportive of spending in the near term,” ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner said.

A net 40 percent think it's a good time to buy a major household item, down three points from the prior survey.

People's perceptions of their current financial situation rose 5 points, with a net 15 percent feeling financially better off than a year ago. A net 29 percent of consumers surveyed expect to be better off financially in a year's time, up six points.

Regarding New Zealand as a whole, perceptions regarding the economic outlook next year lifted 5 points to a net 12 percent expecting conditions to improve. The five-year outlook rose 2 points to 16 percent expecting an improvement.

"Consumer confidence has proven resilient in the face of housing market softness in Auckland and Christchurch. No doubt stronger housing markets elsewhere helped, along with the strong labour market and lower mortgage rates," Zollner said.

ANZ Bank's composite gauge - which combines business expectations and intentions with overall consumer sentiment - " is consistent with our expectation that economic growth will find a floor mid-year," she said..

"We expect a fairly modest recovery in growth."

Yesterday's ANZ Bank's business outlook survey showed a less optimistic picture. A net 38.1 percent expect general business conditions will deteriorate during the coming year, compared with 32 percent in May and 37.5 percent in April. A net 8 percent of survey participants anticipated an improvement for their own businesses, compared to 8.5 percent a month earlier.

(BusinessDesk)

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