Investing.com - U.S. consumer confidence improved more than expected in December, boosting optimism over the health of the economy, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the Conference Board, a market research group, said its index of consumer confidence rose to 96.5 this month from a reading of 92.6 in November, whose figure was revised from a previously reported 90.4. Analysts expected the index to rise to 93.8 in December.
The Present Situation Index increased from 110.9 last month to 115.3 in December, while the Expectations Index improved to 83.9 from 80.4 in November.
Commenting on the report, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center Lynn Franco said, “As 2015 draws to a close, consumers’ assessment of the current state of the economy remains positive, particularly their assessment of the job market."
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 15.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.0930 from around 1.0932 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.4807 from 1.4809 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 120.47 from 120.44 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 98.30, compared to 98.28 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were higher after the open. The Dow 30 tacked on 0.95%, the S&P 500 rose 0.85%, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.8%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,069.40 a troy ounce, compared to $1,069.60 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $37.66 a barrel from $37.64 earlier.