New Zealand: Consumer confidence trends upward in December
The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence indicator rose to 121.9 in December from 118.6 in November, marking a second consecutive monthly increase after trending down for five-months. As a result, the index rose further above the 100-point threshold that separates optimism from pessimism among consumers, now sitting just above its historical average.
The brighter outlook reflected improvements of both the current and future conditions indexes over the previous month. To that effect, consumers’ assessments of their current financial situation and willingness to purchase major household items trended up in November, as did the one-year outlook for economic prospects. Households’ five-year outlook on their financial circumstances, meanwhile, stood flat from a month earlier.