Investing.com – U.S. consumer sentiment unexpectedly decreased in November, dampening optimism over the American economy, according to a report published on Friday.
The preliminary publication of the data for this month from the University of Michigan's Consumer Survey Center showed that consumer sentiment fell to 97.8 from 100.7 in the previous month.
Analysts had forecast the reading to remain unchanged.
The current conditions indicator also unexpectedly fell to 113.6 in November, from the previous 116.5, settling below above forecasts for an increase to 116.8.
Consumer expectations dropped to 87.6 this month, missing the consensus forecast for the reading to remain unchanged at 90.5.
Meanwhile, inflation expectations for the next 12 months increased to 2.6% from the prior 2.4%, while the reading five years out held steady at 2.5%.
University of Michigan Chief Economist Richard Curtin explained that the decline in early November was due to widespread losses across current and expected economic conditions but defined the losses as “quite small”, explaining that the sentiment index remained at its second highest level since January.
“An improving labor market was spontaneously mentioned by a record number of consumers in early November, and anticipated wage gains recorded their highest two-month level in a decade,” Curtin added.
After the report, the dollar lost some ground. EUR/USD was trading at 1.1666 from around 1.1655 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.3210, compared to 1.3203 previously, while USD/JPY traded at 113.27 from 113.32 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 94.22 compared to 94.31 before the release.
Meanwhile, U.S. stocks held onto losses. The Dow 30 fell 52 points, or 0.22%, the S&P 500 traded down 7 points, or 0.25%, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite gave up 12 points, or 0.18%.