Tuesday, March 26, 2013

May Consumer Confidence Beats, Oil Still Deep in Red

Consumer sentiment apparently brightened for the third month in a row in May, the Conference Board just reported, with its index of confidence rising to 63.3 from 57.7 in April, ahead of economists’ projection of 58.8, and a bigger gain than the University of Michigan/Reuters report a week and a half ago.

The reading was “weak by historical standards,” said the Board, but the trend shows consumer sentiment “gaining some traction.”

That’s helped U.S. indices pare some losses, with the Dow Industrials now down just 200 points at 9,864. The S&P 500 is off 22 points at 1,052 and the Nasdaq, off 54 points at 2,160.

Energy prices are still having it rough, with July futures on light sweet crude oil down $2.37 at $67.84 per barrel.

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