Australia: Business confidence improves in August
The business confidence index produced by National Australia Bank (NAB) fell from minus 14 points in July to minus 8 points in August. However, the index remained below the zero-point threshold that signals that Australian businesses are mostly pessimistic regarding economic conditions going forward.
Meanwhile, business conditions weakened in August, on the back of slumping employment conditions as well as profitability and trading conditions turning slightly negative. Furthermore, forward orders moved further into contractionary territory.