Investing.com - U.S. consumer confidence rose more than expected in November, bolstering optimism over the health the U.S. economy, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the Conference Board, a market research group, said its index of consumer confidence rose to 107.1 this month from a reading of 100.8 in October, whose figure was revised from a previously reported 98.6.
Analysts had expected the index to increase to 101.2 in November.
The Present Situation Index increased from 123.1 to 130.3, while the Expectations Index improved from 86.0 last month to 91.7.
“Consumer confidence improved in November after a moderate decline in October, and is once again at pre-recession levels,” said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board.
“A more favorable assessment of current conditions coupled with a more optimistic short-term outlook helped boost confidence," she explained.
"And while the majority of consumers were surveyed before the presidential election, it appears from the small sample of post-election responses that consumers’ optimism was not impacted by the outcome," Franco added.
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 November 15.
Immediately after the report, EUR/USD was trading at 1.0595 from around 1.0608 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.2496 from 1.2500 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 112.95 from 112.83 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 101.39, compared to 101.30 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets traded lower after the open. The Dow 30 dropped 0.10%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.03% while the Nasdaq Composite was flat.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,184.50 a troy ounce, compared to $1,186.50 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $45.17 a barrel from $45.28 earlier.