US consumer confidence up in October on fuel cost lull

US consumer confidence improved in October, driven primarily by a lull in fuel price increases, according to a key indicator published on Tuesday, a week before crucial midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index rose by 7.5 points to 91.7 in October, the organisation said in a statement. The data defied analyst expectations of a drop in confidence. "The recovery was in line with retail gasoline prices easing from September to October," said Fergus McCormick, senior economist at the Conference Board. "Yet, despite the increase in October, consumer confidence remained on the long-term downward trend that's persisted over the past few years." The rising cost of living is a core voter concern going into the November 3 elections, in which the Democratic Party is seeking to wrest control of Congress from US President Donald Trump's Republicans. Trump's war on Iran has driven up global energy prices, exacerbating already high inflation in the United States as the price for regular petrol has increased by more than 40 percent since the start of the conflict. Trump welcomed the October consumer confidence data in a post on social media, calling it "an extremely big rise." (AFP) Edited by Cecil Wong