Elections 'loom large' over US consumers in October

Consumer sentiment in the US was little changed in October while inflation expectations drifted a tad lower, the results of a closely-followed survey revealed.

The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index edged up to 70.5 after a reading of 70.1 for the month before.

Economists had forecast a reading of 69.0.

Survey director Joanne Hsu linked the rise in the index to modest improvements in buying conditions for durables on the back of easing interest rates.

But the decision continued to "loom large" over Americans' expectations, she added.

Hsu noted how the share of those anticipating a Harris presidency fell from 63% in September to 57% in October.

Amongst Republicans meanwhile, the proportion who now believed that Trump would be better for the economy increased 8%.

Expectations for inflation one year ahead were unchanged at 2.7% while those for over the long-run ticked lower by one tenth of a percentage point to 3.0%.

In the two years before the pandemic year ahead price expectations had remained in a range of between 2.3-3.0%.