Consumer confidence in Australia experienced a decline last week, dropping by 2.1 points to reach 86.5 points. The four-week moving average saw a slight increase of 0.3 points, bringing it to 87.3 points.
Inflation expectations for the week showed a minor decrease of 0.1 percentage point, settling at 4.9%, while the four-week moving average remained steady at 4.8%.
Current financial conditions over the past year fell by 0.8 points, but future financial conditions for the next twelve months rose slightly by 0.1 point.
Short-term economic confidence, covering the next twelve months, decreased significantly by 3.9 points, and medium-term economic confidence for the next five years dropped by 5.3 points.
The subindex measuring whether it is a good time to buy major household items declined by 0.6 points.
"The RBA held the cash rate at 3.85% last week, surprising the market and us," stated ANZ Economist Sophia Angala regarding these changes in consumer confidence.
"While the previous upward trend in Consumer Confidence is stalled for now, we expect a resumption of the improvement this year," Angala added, citing factors such as growth in disposable incomes and anticipated rate cuts of 25 basis points in August and November.
Mortgage holder confidence remained stable despite the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to hold rates steady; however, previous rate cuts have bolstered mortgage-holder confidence and appear to have eased outright owner confidence.
"Outright owners are more likely to benefit from higher interest rates as they are more likely to be net savers," Angala noted.