US Consumer Confidence Unexpectedly Improves in April

U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly ticked up in April as a ceasefire in the war with Iran boosted stock prices while labor market perceptions improved, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index climbed 0.6 points to 92.8 this month. Data for March was revised higher to show the index at 92.2 instead of 91.8. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index easing to 89.0. The improvement in confidence was despite worries about higher gasoline prices.

“Consumers’ write-in responses on factors affecting the economy continued to skew towards pessimism in April,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board.

“Comments about prices, oil and gas and war increased in frequency compared to March, a likely signal of consumers’ underlying worries about how the war in the Middle East will impact their pockets.”

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(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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