Oil Prices - August 30

[dan_s]

Although this is good for the economy and future demand growth, the initial reaction was a spike in the U.S. dollar which causes oil to go down.

U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly rose to an 11-month high in August, bolstering optimism over the health of the economy, industry data showed on Tuesday.

In a report, the Conference Board, a market research group, said its index of consumer confidence increased to to 101.1 this month from a reading of 96.7 in July, whose figure was revised from a previously reported 97.3. August’s reading was its highest since September 2015.

Analysts had expected the index to slip to 97.0 in August.

The Present Situation Index rose from 118.8 to 123.0, while the Expectations Index improved from 82.0 last month to 86.4.

Commenting on the report, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center Lynn Franco said, “Consumers’ assessment of both current business and labor market conditions was considerably more favorable than last month.”

Franco indicated that short-term expectations regarding business and employment conditions, as well as personal income prospects, also improved, suggesting the possibility of a moderate pick-up in growth in the coming months.

The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was August 18.