Sometimes, confidence is enough to make it through testing times. This week, the ANZ and Roy Morgan consumer confidence gauge showed Australians at their most upbeat since late 2013. While it is tempting to infer a market recovery, too, confidence alone cannot galvanise a rally. Australia needs investment.
As interest rates have fallen, the Australian market’s main appeal has been its dividend yield. Encouraged by large pension funds, its yield has been among the highest in the world at 4.3 per cent, matching Spain and Norway, and higher than the US at 2.2 per cent and the UK (3.8).
The FT’s always provocative LEX column did Australia today: