Consumer confidence has continued to build on previous gains, posting a 2.0 per cent increase in March from 108.3 in February to 110.5 per cent in March in the Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment.

Westpac’s Chief Economist, Bill Evans, welcomed the results, saying it builds on strong previous gains.

"This is a strong result. It follows the 7.7% jump in the Index which printed in February and marks the fifth consecutive month that the Index has registered above 100. That follows a period of 16 months when the Index was below 100 on 14 of those 16 months,” Mr Evans said.

Mr Evans said the strong results come after consumers have been buoyed by the positive run on local markets.

“The sharemarket continued its strong start to the year, rising a further 3% between the February and March surveys to be up 10% for the year and 20% from its September low. Gains have been impressive offshore as well with the Dow Jones up 10% so far in 2013, reaching a new record high,” Mr Evans said.

“The March survey provides us with measures of those news items which respondents most recalled and how they assessed those items. Most recalled items were around ‘domestic economic conditions’; ‘budget and taxation’; ‘interest rates’; ‘international conditions’ and ‘employment’.”