Westpac Economic's Weekly Update

China was certainly the focus of financial markets this week. It a fitting time then for the release of the August edition of the Westpac-MNI China Consumer Sentiment survey. The detail on employment and family finances was an interesting contrast to the volatility apparent in China's equity markets. Households' views on the housing market were also largely constructive. In Australia, we received updates on construction and CAPEX investment ahead of next week's GDP result. CAPEX expectations remain worryingly weak, although we expect an improvement among service firms in due course.