UMichigan/Reuters Consumer Sentiment Survey drops in April. | CountingPips Forex & Currency Trading Blog

April 11, 2008 - Forex Economic News

UMichigan/Reuters Consumer Sentiment Survey drops in April.

The preliminary consumer sentiment survey by the University of Michigan and Reuters fell to its lowest point in over 25 years in April. The consumer sentiment survey fell to a 63.2 score in April after a score of 69.5 in March in the report released today. The 63.2 survey score is the lowest reading registered by the survey since March of 1982 when the survey recorded a score of 62.0. "The April loss was due to rising inflation and shrinking income gains," the statement said(Reuters). The low consumer confidence score was well below market forecasts which were expecting the score to register at 69.0 and almost unchanged from March's reading. The preliminary report of the survey, released near the beginning of the month, does not include the full total of survey responses and is released in a finalized version later in the month.

The U.S. dollar has been trading lower against most of the major currencies today ahead of the Group of Seven meetings scheduled to take place this weekend. The G7 meetings feature the central bank heads and finance ministers of the U.S., Canada, France, Italy, Germany, the U.K. and Japan. These heads of finance get together to discuss global economic policy and the resulting statements from the meetings can have an impact on the currency markets. Most market analysts are predicting that these G7 meetings will not have much affect on the currency markets beyond highlighting their usual disdain for market volatility and calls for China to allow the value of the yuan to appreciate. If you would like further reading on the G7 meetings and their impact, Kathy Lien from DailyFx wrote an article on the subject this week which can be accessed here.

Tags: G7 meeting, consumer sentiment, confidence, usd, umichigan

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