Key US data reviewed - Nomura

Analysts at Nomura noted the recent US data ina a review.

Key Quotes:

"Case-Shiller home price index: The Case-Shiller 20-city index continued to slow in August as sales activity cooled in the month. The reading for August came in at 5.49% yo-y, the lowest level since December 2016, after rising 5.90% y-o-y in July. While still increasing at a pace above most measures of wage growth, August marks the fifth consecutive monthly deceleration in 12-month home price appreciation for the composite 20 index, consistent with slowing housing market activity. While survey data suggest demand still remains high, deterioration in affordability likely started to dampen demand."

"Consumer confidence: The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index increased 2.6pp to 137.9 in October, above expectations (Nomura: 136.0, Consensus: 135.9), following a modest improvement in September, suggesting continued improvement in consumer optimism. Both the present situation and expectation indices increased, up 2.6pp to 137.9 and 2.1pp to 114.6, respectively. Consumers’ assessment of the labor market improved in October with the labor differential index – the difference between those claiming jobs are “plentiful” versus “hard to get” – increasing to 32.7 from 30.0."