U.S. consumer confidence index rises above expectations in October

The U.S. Conference Board’s index of consumer sentiment rose in the month of October. The consumer confidence index rose 5.3 points to 125.9, surpassing consensus expectations of 121.5 and moving to a new high for the current cycle. The latest reading was also above all observations in the earlier expansion, although it trailed the lofty results seen in the lofty results seen in the tech bubble in the late 1990s and early 2000s, noted Daiwa Capital Markets Research.

The current conditions and expectations components added to the advance. The current conditions index rose 2.9 percent, continuing a solid upward trend and moving to its best level since July 2001. The expectations component recorded a sharper month-to-month change; however, its performance in the current cycle has been less distinct than that for current conditions. The latest observation does not show a new high for the current cycle, and it trailed many readings in the previous expansion.

The rise in the stock market most likely was a contributing factor to the latest increase; however, the solid labor market also played a role, stated Daiwa Capital Markets Research. The share of individuals indicating that jobs were abundant rose 3.6 percentage points to 36.3 percent, while the share indicating that jobs were hard to get dropped 0.5 percentage point to 17.5 percent.

At 19:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was slightly bullish at 69.7773. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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