Australia – Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Index data for January

The six-month annualised growth rate in the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Index rises to +0.4% in January (prior -0.1%)

WPAC headline their report with the encouraging - "Leading Index now signalling above trend growth"

In brief:

This is the first positive, above trend, read on the Index growth rate since the ‘Delta’ lockdowns impacted in August last year.
the Index is signalling that the growth outlook has improved with above trend growth over the next three to nine months likely.
While Westpac expects that the contraction in spending in January due to the Omicron variant will see zero growth in GDP in the March quarter, the economy is likely to bounce back strongly over the remainder of 2022 registering a solid 5.5% growth rate for the year overall.