Australian consumers are feeling their gloomiest in more than four years, signaling that the Reserve Bank’s three recent interest-rate cuts are having the reverse intended effect. Consumer confidence dropped 5.5% to 92.8 in October, with pessimists again outweighing optimists in the monthly Westpac Banking Corp. survey. The index sunk to its lowest level since July 2015 and is down 8.4% since the central bank started cutting rates in June. “This result will be of some concern to the monetary authorities,” said Westpac Chief Economist Bill Evans. “Typically, an interest-rate cut boosts confidence, particularly around ... (full story)