US: UoM Consumer Sentiment Index falls to 76.8 (final) in February vs. 76.5 expected

• Consumer confidence in US continued to deteriorate in February.
• US Dollar Index clings to strong daily gains above 90.60 after the data.

The Consumer Sentiment Index in the US fell to 76.8 (final) in February from 79 in January, the University of Michigan's latest Surveys of Consumers showed on Friday. This reading came in better than the market expectation of 76.5 and the advanced estimate of 76.2.

Further details of the publication revealed that the Current Economic Conditions Index edged lower to 86.2 from 86.7 and the Index of Consumer Expectations fell to 70.7 from 74.

Commenting on the data, "despite a small gain in late February, consumer sentiment was slightly lower for the entire month than in January," noted Surveys of Consumers chief economist, Richard Curtin. "Perhaps the most attention has been garnered by rising inflationary expectations. The year ahead inflation rate was expected to be 3.3% in February, up from 3.0% last month and 2.5% in December."

Market reaction 

The US Dollar Index largely ignored this report and was last seen gaining 0.54% on a daily basis at 90.62.