Investing.com - Investing.com - U.S. consumer confidence fell more-than-expected in December, dropping to a four-month low, industry data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Conference Board, a market research group said its index of consumer confidence fell to 65.1 in December from a reading of 71.5 in November, whose figure was revised down from 73.7.
Analysts had expected the index to decline to 70.0 in December.
The Expectations Index declined sharply to 66.5 from 80.9. The Present Situation Index increased to 62.8 from 57.4 last month.
Commenting on the report, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center Lynn Franco said, "The sudden turnaround in expectations was most likely caused by uncertainty surrounding the oncoming fiscal cliff."
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar remained lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.32% to trade at 1.3267.
Meanwhile, U.S. equity markets were lower after the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1%, the S&P 500 index shed 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite index eased down 0.25%.
Investing.com - Investing.com offers an extensive set of professional tools for the Forex, Commodities, Futures and the Stock Market including real-time data streaming, a comprehensive economic calendar, as well as financial news and technical & fundamental analysis by in-house experts.
Read more News on Investing.com or Follow us on Twitter at @ Newsinvesting
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
