Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 18-May-17

Business Confidence in Australia rose 2.8pts (+2.5%) to 116.6 in April 2017, according to the Roy Morgan Business Single Source survey. The rise in Business Confidence coincided with the All Ordinaries Index gaining 43.8pts (+0.7%) to 5,947.60 during the month and strong near-record monthly trade surpluses of over $A3bn in the months leading into April. The increase in Business Confidence came before last week’s Federal Budget, which appeared to have a negative impact on Consumer Confidence – the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating fell 2.6% to 109.4 following the Budget. Business Confidence was boosted in April by improving sentiment about the year ahead. In April, 48.7% (up2.7ppts) of Australian businesses expected to be "better off" financially this time next year, while 19.7% (down 0.4ppts) expected to be "worse off". In addition, a majority of Australian businesses, 52.8% (up 2.7ppts), expected "good times" for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 40.0% (down 6.1ppts) expected "bad times" – a net positive gain of a significant 8.8ppts.

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