US consumer confidence plunges to 12-year low of 81.9 in September; August JOLTS job openings miss at 7.08M
What happened
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index plunged 6.7 points to 81.9 in September, far below the 89.2 consensus forecast and down from 88.6 in August. Bloomberg called it the lowest reading for the index in more than a decade. Both sub-components sank: the Present Situation Index fell 7.9 points to 109.3, and the Expectations Index slid 5.9 points to 63.6, its third straight monthly decline. In the same 10:00 AM ET release, the BLS August JOLTS report showed job openings at 7.079 million, below the 7.225 million consensus and down from July's upwardly revised 7.335 million. Quits held at 3.1 million (1.9% rate) and layoffs stayed low at 1.6 million (1.0% rate), suggesting a labor market that is cooling but holding together. Separately, 68.4% of consumers now expect interest rates to rise and 12-month inflation expectations sit at 6.1%.
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- Broad market (SPY/DIA/QQQ): Dow fell more than 300 points (-0.6%), S&P 500 -0.3%, Nasdaq -0.1% on the session as yields re-priced the data
- Consumer discretionary and staples: sectors paced the laggards (Apple and Walmart among the worst Dow decliners, -2% to -3%) as weak confidence flags holiday-season spending risk
- Rate-sensitive equities / bonds: 10-year yield popped ~4bp to 5.28% intraday; weaker labor data could eventually temper October hike odds, a tension for TLT