The closely watched University of Michigan survey of US consumer confidence nudged ahead to 77.6p in March, up from its preliminary reading for the month of 75. However, despite the improvement, the reading was still the survey's lowest since August 1993. The start of the war in Iraq, rising energy prices, and continued weakness in the job market raised worries among consumers during the month, but they were not quite as discouraged about the current state of the economy as they were about future conditions.
Consumers' view of current conditions sank to 90.0 from 95.4 in February, . The survey is available only to paying subscribers. The view of future conditions remained unchanged from February, at a gloomy 69.9. Both numbers are slightly higher than the earlier reading in March, when the current condition index came in at 87.1, while future conditions came in at 67.2. ///www.fxcentre.com