Preliminary reading of UoM's April consumer sentiment index shows unexpected increase

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment unexpectedly increased in April and significantly outperformed market expectations.

According to preliminary estimates, the consumer sentiment index jumped to 65.7 in April, up from an eleven-year low of 59.4 in March.

The reading also beat market forecasts of 59, with the expectations index surging by 18% to 64.1 and the current conditions gauge also increasing to 68.1 from 67.2.

Inflation expectations were unchanged for both the year-ahead at 5.4% and the five-year outlook at 3% despite significant sources of economic uncertainty that could impact and even reverse April's gains, including Putin's war on Ukraine and potential hits stemming from new Covid-19 variants.