Financial mood 'less downbeat'

Households are the least downbeat about their finances in two-and-a-half years, a study said.

Some 40% of households predict their finances will deteriorate over the next 12 months, compared with 29% who expect to see an improvement, showing the least pessimistic outlook since March 2010, according to the Markit household finance index (HFI).%VIRTUAL-SkimlinksPromo%