USA: The CB consumer confidence index fell to 86.0 in April

• The CB consumer confidence index in the USA further descended in April.
• The US dollar index clings to daily profits around the 99.00 region.

The feeling of the consumer in the US continued its decrease in April, since the Conference Board conference index fell from 93.9 (reviewed from 92.9) to 86.0 – His weak reading since April 2020.

The feeling of the consumer showed new signs of tension in April, since the opinions on the current conditions of the business and the labor market softened. The current situation index dropped 0.9 points to 133.5. More markedly, the Expectations Index – which tracks the short -term perspectives for income, business activity and employment – collapsed 12.9 points to 54.4. This marks its lowest reading since October 2011 and remains well below the threshold of 80 points historically linked to recession risks.

Stephanie Guichard, a senior economist of global indicators at the Board Conference, argued: “The fall was largely driven by consumer expectations. The three components of expectations – business conditions, employment perspectives and future income – were drastically deteriorated, reflecting a generalized pessimism about the future. Notably, the proportion of consumers who expect less jobs in the next six months (32.1%) was almost as high as in April 2009, in the middle of the great recession.

Market reaction

The US dollar (USD) manages to leave behind part of the recent weakness, which leads to the US dollar index (DXY) to stay above the key support of 99.00 on Tuesday.