Business confidence jumped from -9 in November to +3 in December (actually from -9.2 to +2.9, but lets not split hairs).

  • Biggest rebound in over 10 years
  • “It is likely that much of the change in sentiment was a result of improvements in financial and equity markets,” NAB Chief Economist Alan Oster said in the report. “Whether this feeling of relative optimism will be sustained into the New Year remains to be seen.”
  • Business conditions “remain poor,” Oster said. “Of greater concern is the weakness in forward indicators of demand — with poor forward orders; capacity utilization and capital expenditures at depressed levels, and credit demand back to record low levels.”

The next RBA meeting is on Tuesday February 5. A number like this would seem to indicate a rate cut at the February meeting is unlikely.

Quotes from Bloomberg article