US UoM Consumer Confidence Index drops to 63.4 in March

Consumer sentiment in the US weakened in early March with the University of Michigan’s (UoM) Consumer Confidence Index declining to 63.4 from 67 in February. This reading came in worse than the market expectation of 67.

“Year-ahead inflation expectations receded from 4.1% in February to 3.8%, the lowest reading since April 2021, but remain well above the 2.3-3.0% range seen in the two years prior to the pandemic,” the publication further read. “Long-run inflation expectations edged down to 2.8%, falling below the narrow 2.9-3.1% range for only the second time in the last 20 months.”

Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu “with ongoing turbulence in the financial sector and uncertainty over the Fed’s possible policy response, inflation expectations are likely to be volatile in the months ahead.”