US consumer sentiment falls slightly late April

The University of Michigan’s revised data indicated that the US consumer confidence declined in late April from the preceding month.

The consumer sentiment index came in at 97.2 points in the second half of April, compared with 98.4 in the preceding month, a survey report by Michigan University showed on Friday.

This compares with an earlier reading of 96.9 earlier in the reported month.

The index of current conditions saw a decline after a previously reported gain, while the expectations index was marginally stronger than the flash estimate.

As for current economic conditions, the index went down 0.9% month-on-month to 112.3 points in April, from 113.3 in the previous month, but with a decline of 2.3% from the reading for the same month last year. This came below an early estimate of 114.2 points.

In addition, the expectation index dipped to 87.4 points in April from the previous reading of 88.8 in March, but it was well above 85.8 points seen in the first half of the month.

By 2:02 pm GMT, the US dollar index fell 0.23% to 97.9820.