Lockdowns likely to weigh on confidence
A host of economic indicators due out this week are expected to show that lockdowns across the country have left their mark on business and consumer confidence.
The latest Newspoll showed Australians are becoming increasingly frustrated by lockdowns and the vaccine rollout, marking down Prime Minister Scott Morrison's performance accordingly.
The business and consumer confidence surveys to be released over the next couple of days will give an indication of future household spending and the investment and hiring plans of business.
The influential monthly National Australia Bank business survey for July is released on Tuesday.
Business confidence fell in June, capturing the early stages of the Greater Sydney lockdown, which has since been extended to at least the end of August.
"Lockdown measures have since been increased and broadened - most notably in Greater Sydney - so we look for another sharp decline in this week's July survey," JP Morgan economist Ben Jarman said.
Regional Victoria has been released from lockdown after no new COVID-19 cases were detected outside Melbourne, but the rest of the state will learn its fate on Thursday.
While a relatively short shutdown in southeast Queensland ended on Sunday, Cairns is now in a three-day lockdown.
In a report released earlier this month, Deloitte Access Economics warned such restrictions risk derailing the recovery in business investment, a key component of the economy.
The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index is also released on Tuesday.
Last week the index surprisingly gained 1.1 per cent, with rises in Victoria and South Australia disguising a further seven per cent slump in Sydney.
Confidence was also up in Brisbane, although the survey was largely conducted before its latest lockdown.
The monthly Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment survey is released on Wednesday.
