US consumer confidence dips for third straight month - update 2

04/27/05 - newratings.com

NEW YORK, April 27 (newratings.com) – A closely monitored measure of consumer sentiments in the US declined for the third consecutive month in April 2005, the latest survey results revealed.

The Conference Board, a US-based independent business research group, said in a report published on Tuesday that its consumer confidence index declined to 97.7 this month, from 103.0 in March 2005. The latest reading of the index, which declined to below the forecasts of the Wall Street analysts this month, represents the lowest level since November 2004. The Conference Board said that decreased consumer confidence in April, as compared to the previous month, indicated less robust current conditions and a more cautious outlook for the economy going forward. The consumer confidence index is closely watched as a key gauge of US consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of the nation's overall economic activity. Looking ahead, consumers anticipate neither an improvement in economic growth nor in their incomes, the Conference Board said in a statement accompanying the consumer confidence report on Tuesday. The Conference Board's expectations index declined to 87.2, its lowest level in about two years in April 2005, from 93.7 in the previous month, while the present-situation component of the consumer confidence index declined to 113.6 this month, from a reading of 117.0 in March 2005.