US Consumer Sentiment Improves by 10.6% In April as Optimism Crawls Back

Source: University of Michigan

The Index of Consumer Sentiment in the US was reported at 65.7 in early April, improving by 10.6% from the previous month. SPY is down -0.63%, DXY is up +0.50%.

• The consumer sentiment gauge was still 25.6% lower than the prior year and remained below the reading in January this year. 
• Consumers also became more upbeat about the current economic conditions, with the index rising by a monthly 1.3% to 68.1 in early April. The index remained 29.9% below last year.
• Americans were more upbeat about the future, with the Index of Consumer Expectations up by a monthly 18.0% to 64.1%. The index is 22.5% below last year.
• Richard Curtin, the Surveys of Consumers chief economist, said that the improved expectations stemmed from expectation of an increase of gas prices of 0.4 cents. The gain was lower than a surge of 49.6 cents indicated in March, as sentiment improved partly due to the announced release of strategic oil reserves. Strong labor market expectations also bolstered the sentiment.