Australia NAB Business Confidence Rises, Conditions Fall

(RTTNews) - Australia business confidence improved in April, while conditions deteriorated due to weaker profitability, survey results from NAB showed on Tuesday.

The business confidence index rose to -1 in April from -3 in March but remained negative.

Confidence by industry was mixed, with a significant increase in confidence in manufacturing and smaller increases in wholesale, construction, and finance, property and business services.

The business conditions index dropped to 2 from 3 a month ago. The fall was driven by a 4 point drop in profitability. Trading conditions eased slightly by one point and employment intentions was steady at 4.

By industry, conditions fell significantly in mining and transport and utilities.

Capacity utilization fell to 81.4 percent after rising sharply in March. This took capacity utilization back to its long-run average for the first time since mid-2021. Forward orders edged down one point to -3 index points, while capex fell notably to 1 index points.

Purchase cost growth climbed to 1.7 percent from 1.4 percent in quarterly equivalent terms, while labor cost growth was stable at 1.6 percent. Product price growth and retail price growth increased, with retail price growth rising to 1.4 percent from 0.9 percent, the survey showed.

"Overall, both business conditions and confidence remain weak relative to average levels, highlighting the risk that the economy is struggling to maintain the pick up in momentum we saw in the last quarter of 2024," NAB Chief Economist Sally Auld said.