The wellbeing of the Australian consumer will be on display as fresh retail trading data is released in the coming week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Tuesday dataset from the Australian Bureau of Statistics will cover the month of March and follow a lacklustre 0.3 per cent increase in February, in part supported by Taylor Swift concerts.
The Eras tour drove spending on clothing, merchandise, accessories and dining out while sales contracted across other categories.
Consumers have been under pressure from higher interest rates, elevated but slowing inflation and an increasing tax burden, which has been made clear in sentiment surveys and weak spending.
Selected cost of living indexes expected from the bureau this week will illustrate the impact of higher prices on different household types.
The dire economic climate and cash-strapped households have however not been enough to stop property prices rising.
The April update to real estate data firm CoreLogic's home value index, due on Wednesday, will follow a 0.6 per cent rise in March, on a par with February's increase.
With the exception of Darwin, prices rose in every capital city over the month, with the biggest increases recorded in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane.
More housing-related data is scheduled from the national statistics bureau later in the week, with building approvals for March due on Thursday.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is also set to deliver an address on the state of the domestic and international economy at the Lowy Institute on Wednesday.
The treasurer will hand down his third budget on May 14.
Local investors will be buoyed by a strong end to the week on Wall St with stocks closing higher following strong results for tech heavyweights Microsoft and Alphabet.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 153.86 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 38,239.66 and the S&P 500 gained 51.54 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 5,099.96.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 316.14 points, or 2.03 per cent, to 15,927.90.
Australian share futures gained 24 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 7620.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday fell 107.1 points, or 1.39 per cent, to 7,575.9, to finish the week up 0.11 per cent.
The broader All Ordinaries closed down 100.1 points, or 1.26 per cent, at 7,837.4.
Australian Associated Press
