SYDNEY- A measure of Australian business activity was largely unchanged in March before the turmoil from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs hit, a survey showed on Tuesday, while confidence dipped further into negative territory.
The survey from National Australia Bank (NAB) showed its index of business conditions edged up 1 point to +4 in March, but remained below long-run averages.
The confidence index fell 1 point to -3.
“Businesses remain cautious about the outlook, with confidence and conditions both below average,” said Sally Auld, chief economist at NAB.
“This was before the reciprocal tariff announcements in early April, which may flow through to forward looking measures in the next survey.”
The global business landscape has drastically changed in early April, with Trump imposing a baseline tariff of 10 percent on all imports and threatening much higher duties on its major trading partners like China.
A measure of consumer sentiment dived from a three-year high in April on worries about the incoming tariffs.
