Australia NAB business confidence falls in April. | CountingPips Forex & Currency Trading Blog

May 12, 2008 - Forex Economic News

Australia NAB business confidence falls in April.

Australian business confidence continued to fall in April according to a monthly survey released today by the National Australia Bank(NAB). The NAB business confidence index fell by 4 points in April to register -8 on the confidence index which marks the lowest reading since March of 2001. Business confidence had also fallen in March by 4 points to a -4 index reading.

The NAB business conditions index was unchanged in April at a +7 reading after dropping by 4 points in March. Survey results also showed that business profits fell by 4 points to a +10 index reading, employment gained 5 points to a +9 reading, trading fell by 3 points to a +2 reading and forward orders fell by 5 points to a -5 reading.

Commenting on the March report, the chief economist at the NAB Alan Oster said, "The message is very much that we continue to see a significant, broad-based slowing in domestic demand and business conditions" and that "the combination of large falls in sales, profits and especially forward orders, do not bode well for near-term growth."

The National Australia Bank's monthly survey is based on approximately 350 businesses and tracks the conditions of the non-farm business sector.

Tags: nab, national australia bank, business confidence, sentiment, australia, aud

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