U.S Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index falls slightly in October

The Conference Board (CB) Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) has been reported to have slightly dropped to 125.9 in October. The index had previously fallen in September to 126.3. The analysts forecast for this month was 128.0 that has been missed. CB Consumer Confidence Index was reported at 14:00 GMT.

The Present Situation Index Has Been Upbeat

The Present Situation Index has climbed from 170.6 to 172.3. This component of CCI highlights the consumer sentiment at large about the prevailing economic conditions. The Expectations Index, however, has been reported to have declined to 94.9 in October from 96.8 in September. The Expectations Index is another component of the CCI that measures consumer’s short-term outlook (6 months) regarding income, business, and more broadly, labor market conditions.

The report further accentuates that 39.2% of the consumers have claimed the current business conditions to be “good”, as compared to 37.4% last month. On the contrary, consumers claiming it to be “bad” declined to 11.2% from 12.2% in September. Consumers’ outlook on the job market was reported to have mixed reviews. 46.9% claimed the jobs to be “plentiful” versus 44.5% last month, while those claiming that it is “hard to get” jobs climbed up from 11% last month to 11.8% in October.

20% of consumers expressed that they expect the business conditions to get better in the next six months, a figure that has climbed from 18.6% in September. As per the CCI, 11.6% of the consumers in October are expecting the business conditions to get worse in the next six months as compared to 13.3% last month.

Optimism was also lacking in figures for the labor market. 16.9% of the consumers are hopeful for the number of jobs to increase in the upcoming months, as compared to 17.6% in September. While 15.4% of the consumers were anticipating fewer jobs in the next six months in September, the figure has raised to 17.8% for the month of October.

Lastly, 21.2% of the consumers expressed optimism in terms of income prospects (short-term), against 19.7% that were reported to be hopeful in September. The proportion expecting a decline in income prospects in the upcoming months matched the figure for last month at 6.5%.

CCI’s Response In The Forex Market

Following the report, the U.S dollar index has been seen losing the optimism of the previously highlighted U.S – China trade talks and was reported around 0.09% down to 97.43.

EUR/USD has also surged back above the 1.1100 level after failing to break below the strong support in the 1.1070 region. With a gain of around 0.22%, the pair is currently trading at 1.1110.