• Headline business confidence and firms' views of their own activity continued to fall in July, reaching their lowest levels since May 2008 and May 2009 respectively.

• Activity sub-indicators were weak across the board; retail is the least confident sector.

The ANZ Business Outlook Survey for July paints an unhappy picture. Headline business confidence dropped to a net 45% of respondents reporting they expect general business conditions to deteriorate in the year ahead, down 5 points.