US consumers are more confident: a score of 92.1 points. Also the conditions component came up nicely with 106.7 beating 101.5 expected and expectations scored 82.7, above 79 predicted. However, JOLTs job openings disappointed with a level of 5.37 million in August, significantly less than 5.625 predicted. The report also included a downwards revision for July: 5.668 million after a report of 5.753 last time.
The dollar is marginally stronger across the board, with EUR/USD ticking a bit lower and USD/JPY extending its gains. The JOLTs number takes out part of the sting. However, consumer confidence is for October and JOLTs are for August, giving the better data the upper hand on timeliness.
Regarding quits, the JOLTs report showed no change: 1.9% is the rate and 2.7 million the figure. This provides some stability and stability on high ground.
US consumer sentiment was expected to rise to 89 points in the preliminary read for October after a final level of 87.2 in September. JOLTs job openings were expected to drop to 5.625 million in August from 5.75 in July (before revisions).
The US dollar continued its recovery towards the release with EUR/USD sitting on the H&S level, USD/JPY at 119, GBP/USD to 1.5460, AUD/USD at 0.7282 and USD/CAD just under 1.29.
Consumer sentiment gets its importance as a predictive indicator for actual retail sales. Despite a weak correlation between the two, we usually see a significant market reaction.
JOLTs job openings are watched because the Fed watches them: they consider it a wider measure of employment. The level of quits is eyed as confidence: a person quitting his job is a confident person.
More: 3 Reasons To Sell GBP/JPY: A ‘Nice’ Medium-Term Trade – Deutsche Bank
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