Consumer confidence rose over the weekend, an ANZ survey suggests, as respondents signalled optimism about the prospects for the economy even as they felt uncertain about their own finances.
The ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence index jumped 4.0 per cent from the previous week, with respondents' perception of the country's current economic conditions - including the outlook for the next 12 months - soaring 13.3 per cent following declines in the prior three readings.
But the weekly measure of sentiment recorded a 2.2 per cent fall regarding people's current financial conditions - in a query that asks respondents to compare their situation with that of a year ago - and a 1.0 per cent rise about their finances over the next year.
The results, which are based on about 1,000 face-to-face interviews conducted on Saturdays and Sundays, are a dramatic reversal of last week's figures that indicated consumers were gloomy about the economy at large but upbeat about their own financial situation.
The latest survey, taken during the final weekend of end-of-financial-year sales, noted a 3.2 per cent gain in the "time to buy a major household item" metric.
Consumer expectations of inflation slumped to 3.7 per cent in the poll released on Tuesday from 4.3 per cent in the previous week.
