Christmas shopping: Consumer anxiety falls in time for retail season

Consumers in Australia are less anxious than at any time in the past 18 months amid signs of a robust finale to the Christmas shopping season.

The National Australia Bank’s consumer anxiety index, released on Tuesday, has fallen for a second straight quarter to its lowest mark since mid-2013. It also revealed households have increased spending on non-essentials.

New spending data pointed to solid retail spending growth in December, despite the hit to consumer confidence caused by last week’s siege in Martin Place. Commonwealth Bank figures, released on Tuesday, show the volume of debit and credit card transactions made in stores across Australia in the first three weeks of December was 10.7 percent higher than the same period last year. The total value of transactions was five per cent higher in that period.