Consumer confidence ‘appears to be on increase’

Declining confidence levels among consumers appears to have bottomed out, according to a survey.

The latest edition of the financial confidence index from the Irish arm of international financial services group Standard Life — covering the second quarter of the year — shows a quarter-by-quarter fall from 52.1 points to 51.2 points.

The index had seen a sharp decline after being introduced five years ago — dropping from a reading of 62.4 points in June, 2007 to the current level; interrupted by a peak of 66.6 points in March of 2008.