Despite a negative shift in consumer confidence, U.S. markets were up today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46.10 points to 10,858.14—almost erasing the losses experienced on Monday. The Nasdaq climbed 9.82 points to 2,379.59 while the S&P 500 gained 5.54 points to 1,147.70.
The Conference Board released their consumer confidence measures for the month of September today. The report (which you can read here) shows that confidence fell 4.7 points in September, after increasing in August. The level is now lower than it has been for seven months. The report states that more consumers expect business conditions to decline over the next six months than to improve and fewer consumers are expecting additional jobs to be added. In addition, fewer consumers anticipate an increase in their income. In August, 10.6 percent of those questioned believed they would have an increase in their income while in September, that number dropped to 10.2 percent.
Asian markets were down today while European markets were mixed, the UK’s FTSE 100 the only index rising.
Stocks in the news: AOL Inc (NYSE: AOL), Barnes & Noble Inc (NYSE: BKS), CVS Caremark Corp (NYSE: CVS), Walgreen Co (NYSE: WAG).
