From Australia, NAB Business Confidence figures were released yesterday. Business confidence has been relatively steady in recent months, with resilient domestic factors helping to offset concerns on the global stage. Business confidence remained at +3 index points in February, and while this is slightly below average, positive business conditions are encouraging in the current environment. Mr Oster says that, “with global market volatilities starting to abate as well, positive confidence levels suggest the risk of contagion from financial markets has probably fallen compared to recent months”.
Also, from China,
Trade Balance data was published. Chinese trade data produced another horror show in February with steep declines registered in both imports and exports for the month. Imports slid by 13.8%, again below forecasts for a drop of 10.0%. Despite the continued decline, it was an improvement on the 18.8% drop registered previously. As a consequence of the movements in exports and imports,
the trade surplus came in at US$32.59 billion, significantly below forecasts for a smaller narrowing to US$50.15 billion.
Tomorrow, from Australia, Westpac Consumer Sentiment figures will be released. Analysts are hoping for a better reading this month. Also, Home Loans figures will be published. Decline by 2.7% is anticipated.
Figures to watch:
Westpac Consumer Sentiment (Wednesday 00:30)
Home Loans (Wednesday 1:30)