Finance industry steady as business confidence wanes
Business confidence in the finance and insurance industry remained steady despite an overall decline as 2012 wound down, according to Roy Morgan industry communications director Norman Morris.
Its latest business confidence report confirmed that although business confidence fell 2 points from 116.8 to 114.8 in December last year, confidence in the finance and insurance industry has been increasing since a 4.1 uptick in August 2012. A 0.1 decline in December was not significant, Morris said.
As confidence in the finance and insurance industry has grown, overall confidence has experienced a roller-coaster of ups and downs since August.
December's results were due to complex interactions between a number of positive and negative factors, Morris said.
"On the negative side, during December there was a great deal of coverage of the USA approaching the 'fiscal cliff', the Australian Government abandoning the objective of a budget surplus and the Australian dollar being regarded by many as being too high for exports to compete.
"These negative factors were largely offset by positive news such as an interest rate cut, the ASX increasing by 3.2 per cent for the month, iron ore prices rebounding, some optimism regarding the European economic problems and improving growth prospects in China," he said.
An increasing number of businesses had poor expectations of Australian economic conditions in December, although the majority of businesses (61 per cent) still believed Australia would have better economic conditions over the next 12 months, and just over half of businesses said the next 12 months would be a good time to invest in business.
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