U.S. consumer sentiment reaches nine-month high reading of 64.6
Yahoo Finance Live anchor Dave Briggs breaks down the latest reading from the University of Michigan's monthly Survey of Consumers, showing sentiment at a nine-month high.
Video Transcript
DAVE BRIGGS: Let's get you up to speed now on the consumer. The University of Michigan's closely watched Consumer Sentiment Index rising to 64.6 in the preliminary January survey. That's according to data released Friday. It's the highest reading since January 22 and up from 8.2% from December's 59.7 reading. It's still 3.9% below where it was 12 months earlier.
Consumers' feelings on the economy, though, actually jumped 15% to 68.6, while inflation expectations-- and here's the big takeaway if you're taking notes. This year, the expectations are for a four spot, their lowest level since April 2021, and 3% is the prediction for five years out. Presumably, that is what rallied the markets a bit, Seana. It's positive and it's negative. I mean, look, five years out, we're still looking at a relatively high inflation mark, at least if you ask the Fed. But on the other hand, the one-year mark tells you perceptions are turning a bit in the right direction.
SEANA SMITH: It does. And I think investors, I think traders are looking for any sort of optimism that they're getting here in the market. So anything like that, they are going to take that as a huge win. And that's a big reason why we are seeing stocks gains today.
