CoreData’s latest Investor Sentiment Index has revealed consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest point in seven years.
Q4 2011 saw a confidence rating of 22.4 – lower than a confidence level of 22.3 in Q1 2009, at the depth of the GFC.
CoreData’s Kristen Turnbull said the findings showed the extent of uncertainty among investors over what the future might hold. “The continued slide in sentiment we’ve seen since the beginning of 2011 is reflective of the global turmoil in Europe and concerns about how this might impact the investment landscape in Australia,” she said.
Exploring investor expectations over the performance of the economy and markets, the research also looks at people’s perceptions of individual financial situations and future investment intentions.
As the seventh consecutive quarter where the index has been negative, the index for Q4 2011 also revealed two in five Australian households were financially worse off than they were 12 months ago.
“The negative sentiment can be attributed to pessimism about growth prospects for the Australian economy, the current financial situation of households and low investment intention this quarter,” said Turnbull.
“On a positive note, sentiment towards business conditions has improved slightly quarteronquarter and we’re seeing greater optimism that household financial positions will improve in the next 12 months.”payday loan займ на карту онлайн срочно без отказаманисто займэкспресс займ москва