Businesses continue to show pessimism about the domestic and international economy. The manufacturing sector indicated contractionary sentiment for the first time since August 2012 and general business confidence in the ANZ Business Outlook fell further this month. Firms' expectations of their own activity fell 3.0 points to only a net 5.0% of firms expecting better future conditions. The services sector was more upbeat with the rate of expansion picking up from last month. Continued general business pessimism has increased the downside risk for our near-term GDP growth forecasts, but there are tentative signs that ... (full story)