The December ANZ Business Outlook Survey was again stronger pretty much across the board. Headline business confidence jumped 13 points to a net 13% of respondents reporting that they expect general business conditions to deteriorate in the year ahead. While still negative, this is the highest read since October 2017. Firms’ expectations for their own activity, a better economic indicator, rose 4 points to a net 17% expecting higher activity over the year ahead. This is the strongest read since April 2018. The lift in manufacturing was particularly notable, but the lift in the activity indicators was again quite ... (full story)