EmailStory Stocks®
Archive
Last Update: 09-Dec-11 10:37 ET
Consumer Sentiment at a 6-Month High
Consumer sentiment strengthened in the preliminary reading for the December University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey. The index increased from 64.1 in November to 67.7. The Briefing.com consensus expected Consumer Sentiment to increase to 65.1.
Sentiment is at its strongest level since June.
The bulk of the gain in sentiment came from renewed positive expectations for future economic growth. The expectations index increased from 55.4 in November to 61.1 in December. The current conditions index increased from 77.6 in November to 77.9.
Typically, sentiment follows trends in employment, stock prices, oil prices, and media reports. Surprisingly, the recent volatility in equity prices and the rise in oil prices have not hindered sentiment. That suggests that consumer feelings about the economy during the debt ceiling fiasco were not representative of how the economy was actually performing. Sentiment is now more in-line with the hard data.
Sentiment is at its strongest level since June.
The bulk of the gain in sentiment came from renewed positive expectations for future economic growth. The expectations index increased from 55.4 in November to 61.1 in December. The current conditions index increased from 77.6 in November to 77.9.
Typically, sentiment follows trends in employment, stock prices, oil prices, and media reports. Surprisingly, the recent volatility in equity prices and the rise in oil prices have not hindered sentiment. That suggests that consumer feelings about the economy during the debt ceiling fiasco were not representative of how the economy was actually performing. Sentiment is now more in-line with the hard data.
