Consumer Confidence, stocks and more

The latest version of the Quikrete Dashboard displays a slip in Consumer Confidence, but an increasingly positive Wall Street round up.

The Conference Board’s Present Situation Index increased to 151.1, from 148.9. And the Expectations Index fell to 68.1, from 74.0.

“While consumers’ relatively favorable assessment of the current business environment improved somewhat in April, their expectations fell and remain below the level which often signals a recession looming in the short-term,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Senior Director, Economics at The Conference Board. 

“Consumers became more pessimistic about the outlook for both business conditions and labor markets. Compared to last month, fewer households expect business conditions to improve and more expect worsening of conditions in the next six months,” Ozyildirim continued. “They also expect fewer jobs to be available over the short term. April’s decline in consumer confidence reflects particular deterioration in expectations for consumers under 55 years of age and for households earning $50,000 and over.”

Meanwhile, all 10 ticker symbols tracked on the Stock Roundup are ahead for the month.  Leading the way were BLDR, LW and TSCO, which were also up for the year. 

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Coming next on the Dashboard: the unemployment rate will be updated with the release of government data on May 5.