Westpac Bank released its consumer confidence index for Australia on late Tuesday evening. The index climbed 4.2% in October, exceeding expectations for a 3.0% rise, after a 5.6% drop in September.

"There has been a very significant and unexpected boost to respondents' assessment of the state of the labour market which looks to be an even more significant result than the increase in the overall index," Westpac Chief Economist Bill Evans said.