US consumers feel more confident in March: 101.3 points according to the CB Consumer Confidence. In addition, the previous figure was revised up from 96.4 to 98.8 points. Is the US economy enjoying the spring? Consumer confidence numbers and actual retail sales are note always fully correlated, but the number certainly moves markets, especially in nervous markets.
The US dollar is slightly higher.
Among the components, we find current conditions at 109.1 points, lower than last time. Expectations rise to 96, which is a significant rise.
It is important to note that last minute fixings are in play, but anyway, this is a good read on the consumer, which is critical to the US economy:
- EUR/USD renews its slide below 1.0730. Last week it traded briefly above 1.10. The euro-zone is still in deflation, but somewhat better than expected.
- GBP/USD, which enjoyed good data earlier, is under 1.48.
- USD/JPY continues battling 120.
- USD/CAD is at 1.2728 – Canada enjoyed an OK GDP read earlier.
- AUD/USD is below 0.76. Falling commodity prices certainly weighed earlier.
- NZD/USD is at 0.7467, showing some stability.
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence measure for March was expected to stand at 96.6 points in March after 96.4 in February.
The US dollar enjoyed a boost towards the end of the month and quarter.
Earlier, the Chicago PMI fell short of predictions with 46.3 points against 52.5 expected and 45.8 in February. The S&P/CS Composite-20 HPI showed an annual rise of 4.6% in prices, as expected and higher than 4.4% seen beforehand. Yesterday, the Fed’s favorite inflation figure ticked up.
The big event of the week is clearly the Non-Farm Payrolls on Friday. This time, the data is released on Good Friday – the Easter holiday in many places around the world but not a public holiday in the US.
More: How High Can The USD Go? EUR/USD to 0.98 by year end – Barclays
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