US consumer sentiment improved for the first time in six months in June as trade tensions between the US and China eased, but households worried about the economy’s trajectory.
The rise in sentiment reported by the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers yesterday was, however, overshadowed by Israel’s missile strikes against Iran, which boosted oil prices to multi-month highs and weighed on global stock markets.
Though consumers’ inflation expectations also improved this month, higher oil prices are likely to translate into pain at the pump. Gasoline prices have been generally low this year, freeing up much needed money for spending elsewhere.
“The improvement may be short-lived if current geopolitical risks as well as the increase in oil prices continue,” said Eugenio Aleman, chief economist at Raymond James. “The same is going to probably be true for inflation expectations.”
The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index jumped to 60.5 this month from a final reading of 52.2 in May.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index would rise to 53.5. The index, however, remained about 20 per cent below last December’s level, when sentiment soared in the wake of President Donald Trump’s victory in the November 5 election.
Sentiment rose across all age, income, wealth, political party affiliation groups and geographic regions. While the share of consumers giving unsolicited comments about tariffs was down from May, it was higher than any other month since the election.
Stocks on Wall Street fell. The dollar rose against a basket of currencies. US Treasury yields were higher.
The US and China have made big strides towards de-escalating their trade war, with Washington slashing tariffs on Chinese goods to 30pc from 145pc until mid-August. They agreed earlier this week on a framework covering tariff rates.
“Consumers appear to have settled somewhat from the shock of the extremely high tariffs announced in April and the policy volatility seen in the weeks that followed,” Joanne Hsu, the director of the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers, said in a statement. “However, consumers still perceive wide-ranging downside risks to the economy.”
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