Friday, April 29, 2011

Chicago Purchaing Manager's Index Falls, Consumer Sentiment Rises

Two additional data on the U.S. econony were released within ten minutes of each other. At 9:45, the April Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed a drop from March's 70.6% to 67.6%. That drop was slightly lower than expected; the subindex covering new orders plummeted. Despite the drop, the PMI still shows expansion: any reading above 50 says more firms are expanding than contracting.

9:55 saw the release of the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. The April figure rose from March's 67.5 to 69.8. This reading was also slightly below expectations.


Gold didn't react to the first figure, staying stuck around $1,537.50. It did start to rise when the second figure was released, but didn't make a jump until 10:00. Then, in quick order, it got up to $1,545 and hung between that level and $1,543.50. Perhaps those figures did have an influence, as gold jumped before the greenback slipped.

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