Investing.com - U.S. consumer confidence improved more than expected in October, underlining optimism over the health of the economy, industry data showed on Tuesday.
The Conference Board, a market research group, said its index of consumer confidence jumped to 125.9 this month, a level not seen since December 2000.
Analysts expected the index to rise to 121.0 in October from a reading of 120.6 in September, whose figure was revised up from a previously reported 119.8.
The Present Situation Index increased from 146.9 to 151.1, while the Expectations Index rose from 103.0 last month to 109.1.
Commenting on the report, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center Lynn Franco said, “Confidence remains high among consumers, and their expectations suggest the economy will continue expanding at a solid pace for the remainder of the year."
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 October 14.
USD/JPY was at 113.50 from 113.42 ahead of the release of the data, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1635 from around 1.1640, while GBP/USD was at 1.3250 from 1.3245 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 94.50, compared to 94.47 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were mixed after the open. The Dow 30 fell 0.1%, the S&P 500 shed 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.1%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,271.92 a troy ounce, compared to $1,272.55 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $54.06 a barrel from $53.99 earlier.