The US consumer is not so confident. Sentiment dropped to 85.7 points, worse than expected. Current conditions also dropped to 100.3 points and expectations fell to 76.4. All the numbers are below last month’s figures and under early estimations.
The result is quite worrying, especially for the Fed, which watches these figures. EUR/USD flirted with 1.13 but isn’t going too far.
The University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment figure for September was expected to slide to at 91.2 (see our EURUSD preview), down from a final read of 91.9 in August.
EUR/USD traded at a steady 1.1285 towards the release.
The figure is of importance as it is fresh (for September) and forward looking: consumers’ intentions are perceived to turn into actual spending, which is the vast majority of the US economy.
Earlier, PPI numbers beat expectations by a bit, but inflation measures are all subdued as the Federal Reserve often says.
And speaking of the Fed, the clock is ticking: in 6 days we will hear the rate decision from the world’s most important central bank and the question remains open: will they or won’t they raise rates?
