National Australia Bank's monthly business survey showed confidence at a reading of 2 in the month -- well below its long-run average and down from 5 in September -- despite persistent strength in the business conditions measure. The measure has now unwound much of its gains following the federal government’s leadership resolution and the paring-back of concerns about emerging markets. Only finance/property/business, manufacturing and mining improved although the latter remained in the negative. Separate report on Home Loans showed 2.0% rise, above expectations on 0.1% increase.
NAB senior economist James Glenn said the deterioration in business confidence was "broad based" and "somewhat fickle", but still pointed to a "reasonably resilient recovery in the non-mining sector, despite stubbornly sluggish business confidence in the past six months." He said better business conditions were not being felt uniformly across the economy with industries well positioned to take advantage of a lower dollar and
interest rates -- "especially those closely tied to residential real estate" -- benefiting the most.
Aussie is currently being traded around 0.7050 level. Pair is likely to find support around 0.720 area and resistance above 0.71 level. There will be no major data releases in the rest of the session.