The University of Michigan's preliminary US consumer confidence index fell to 74,1 in June from 79,3 in May, below expectations by 77,5. The sub-index on expectations settled at 68,9 points and that relating to the current situation at 82,1 points. US industrial production also fell surprisingly in May, down 0,1%. Instead, analysts' expectations were for an increase of 0,1%. The rate of use of the plants dropped to 79% from 79,2%, confirming itself below the average of the last forty years at 80 percentage points. Production in the manufacturing sector fell by 0,4%, on the contrary the mining sector grew by 0,9%, the utility sector by 0,8%.
The two data follow the release of the Empire State manufacturing index for June which fell to 2,29 points from 17,09 in May. A much larger drop than experts' expectations which indicated a decrease in the index to 10,7 points. The sub-indexes also worsened: that of new orders fell to 2,18 from 8,32 in the previous month, that of deliveries fell to 4,81 points after reaching an annual high of 24,14 last month. The employment index also decreased to 12,37 from 20,48, that of the weeks worked decreased to 3,09 from 12,05. Despite disappointing macro data, Wall Street opened higher.
