Australia NAB Business Confidence & Conditions Rise

(RTTNews) - Australia's business confidence and conditions improved at the end of the year, monthly survey results from NAB showed Tuesday.

The business conditions index rose to 9 in December from 7 in the previous month. Likewise, the business sentiment index improved to 3 from 2 in November.

The survey showed that the improvement in business conditions was driven by gains in trading and profitability. Business conditions rose in seven out of eight industries in the month.

The business confidence index remained consistent with the gentle upward trend in this measure in recent years. Movements in confidence were mixed across industries in December.

According to NAB, the survey suggests that the momentum in the Australian economy remained solid as the year came to a close, with most indicators in the survey modestly higher compared to the end of the third quarter.

For the RBA, the small easing in capacity utilization will do little to soothe worries that the economy is pushing up against capacity constraints as we enter the New Year, NAB noted.