Westpac- Melbourne Institute Leading Index

Moves up 0.14% for the month to 97.82.

  • prior month revised to -0.07%

The six month annualised growth rate in the Westpac- Melbourne Institute Leading Index, which indicates the likely pace of economic activity relative to trend three to nine months into the future, rose from -0.09% in June to +0.05% in July

Westpac remarks (in summary):

  • first above trend read since November last year
  • Further confirmation of this around trend reading would be consistent with the economy growing around trend for the last three or four months of 2019 and well into the first half of 2020.
  • However, developments so far in August around the share market, commodity prices and the inversion of the yield curve point to a likely softer August reading for the Index. That is likely to dent the current 'at trend' growth signal from the July report

--

While this data point tends not to move forex upon release its one of the better indicators for how the Australian economy is likely to evolve in the months ahead.