Consumer Confidence Index surges to 104.1 in September vs. estimate of 99
A key measure of consumers' attitudes increased in September, to its highest level since the recession.
The Consumer Confidence Index hit 104.1 in September, The Conference Board said on Tuesday. Economists expected the Consumer Confidence Index to hit 99.0 in September, down from August's revised reading of 101.8, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimate.
Consumer confidence rose in September to the highest level since before the last recession on optimism about the labor market, according to a report from the New York-based Conference Board on Tuesday.
"Looking ahead, consumers are more upbeat about the short-term employment outlook, but somewhat neutral about business conditions and income prospects," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board. "Overall, consumers continue to rate current conditions favorably and foresee moderate economic expansion in the months ahead."
Fed's Fischer says tighter labor market pushing up wages
The Federal Reserve should avoid raising interest rates too much, Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said on Tuesday, adding that gains in U.S. incomes are a sign that workers are benefiting from a tighter labor market.
"I don't want to raise the interest rate too much," Fischer told students at Howard University. He said rates should rise but that "I don't know when" that should happen.
The U.S. central bank left rates steady at a policy meeting last week, but policymakers including Fed Chair Janet Yellen signaled a hike was likely by the end of the year.
Fischer, the Fed's No. 2 official, said the recently-reported increase in median household income in 2015 was a sign that the low U.S. jobless rate was pushing wages higher.
"We are beginning to see the fruits of a higher pressure labor market," Fischer said.
Fed's Williams says U.S. economy can handle rate hike
The Federal Reserve can raise interest rates without threatening the U.S. economic recovery, a top Federal Reserve policymaker said on Tuesday, saying the central bank risks doing more harm by continued inaction.
"It is getting harder and harder to justify interest rates being so incredibly low given where the U.S. economy is and where it is going," San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said in an interview at his bank's headquarters.
"I would support an interest rate increase," he said. "I think that the economy can handle that. I don’t think that would stall, slow or derail the economic expansion."
Oil down 3 pct as Saudi, Iran dash hopes for an Algiers deal
Oil fell about 3 percent on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia and Iran dashed market hopes that the two major OPEC producers would find a compromise this week at meeting in Algiers to help ease a global glut of crude.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters in the Algerian capital, where OPEC and other oil producers gathered for the Sept. 26-28 International Energy Forum, he did not expect an agreement to come out of the consultations on the last day of the meet.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.26, or 2.7 percent, to $44.67.
Reference: Reuters, Bloomberg, CNBC
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