"ForexGen Announcement" European Session - US Sentiment Index Down Again

US consumer confidence index dropped to 64.5 which is it's lowest since March 2003. Figures with regard to Conference Board's forward-looking expectation fell to 47.9 which is its lowest level in 34 years. These numbers clearly show that recession fears are all but settled. Today's figure shows that the consumer's outlook is very pessimistic and suggests that there will be more weakening in the months to come. The Fed will in all probability view these numbers as a queue to act on interest rates by lowering them further still. Many analyst are calling these figures very weak and expect the labor market to weaken for a length of time still difficult to assess. The data does not bode well for the dollar. Ten days ago we had the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index publish figures which hadn't been seen for over 16 years. And before that we had the Case-Schiller house price index, which reflect the price in 20 major cities across the US, falling to 10.7 per cent. Clearly the housing market crisis has yet to peter out and is still creating mayhem in the minds of American consumers. Uncertainties around household throughout America are growing. Despite this string of bad news the European government bonds remained lower. This is because of a persistent rumor that major central banks are considering buying mortgage backed securities from investors. This announcement has weighed heavily on bonds on both sides of the duck pond.