ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence tumbles to 104.8

• ‘Current economic conditions’ saw a significant decline of 16.6%. In percentage terms, the downturn was the largest since January 2009. ‘Future economic conditions’ declined by 2.9%. Both the subcomponents are well below long-term averages.
• In contrast to the weakness in economic conditions, confidence in financial conditions rose. ‘Current financial conditions’ gained 3.8%, while ‘future finances’ gained 0.9%.
• ‘Time to buy a major household item’ fell by 3.8%. The four-week moving average for ‘inflation expectations’ was stable at 4%.

"The coronavirus impacted consumer confidence in a big way last week, with overall sentiment falling to its lowest level in more than five years. The virus induced sell-off in the local and global stock markets and the big drop in the Chinese PMI likely contributed to the weakness. The fall seen in ‘current economic conditions’ shows that Australians are getting skittish about the well-being of the economy, though they are still quite content about their personal financial circumstances. This divergence remains the most notable aspect of the confidence survey. So far the negative economic outlook has been a better guide to household spending than more positive financial sentiment."