Investing.com - U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated less than expected in July, underlining 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 inched down to 97.3 this month from a reading of 97.4 in June, whose figure was revised down from a previously reported 98.0. Analysts expected the index to fall to 95.9 in July.
The Present Situation Index increased from 116.6 to 118.3, while the Expectations Index edged down to 83.3 from 84.6 in June.
Commenting on the report, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center Lynn Franco said, “Consumers were slightly more positive about current business and labor market conditions, suggesting the economy will continue to expand at a moderate pace."
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 July 14.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.0993 from around 1.1000 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.3152 from 1.3157 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 104.66 from 104.60 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 97.12, compared to 97.08 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were modestly higher after the open. The Dow 30 rose 0.1%, the S&P 500 tacked on 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.4%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,328.10 a troy ounce, compared to $1,327.50 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $42.98 a barrel from $42.91 earlier.