US consumer confidence rebounds strongly in July, Conference Board says

Americans' confidence rebounded forcefully in July following a big drop during the previous month on the back of concerns around the worsening outlook for global trade, the results of a well-known survey confirmed.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index jumped back from a reading of 124.3 in June to 135.7 for July (consensus: 125.0).

In May, the index had stood 131.3, before the US administration threatened to impose tariffs on Mexican goods and US-China trade talks broke down.

Since then, the former had been avoided and the latter had apparently settled into a stand-off with some analysts, albeit not all, sounding quite skeptical about the potential for a resolution in the near term.

Nonetheless, talks between negotiators from Washington and Beijing had since resumed, albeit in apparent halting fashion.

Stronger expectations lay behind the bulk of the improvement in consumers' confidence, with the corresponding sub-index increasing from a reading of 97.6 for June to 112.2 in July.

A separate sub-index which tracks consumers' views on the current situation meanwhile gained from a reading of 164.3 for June to 170.9 in July.

Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, said: "Consumers are once again optimistic about current and prospective business and labor market conditions.

"In addition, their expectations regarding their financial outlook also improved. These high levels of confidence should continue to support robust spending in the near-term despite slower growth in GDP."