U.S. CONSUMER CONFIDENCE DROPS AMID UNCERTAINTY
ON» Consumer confi
W A S HING T dence fell sharply in September, a likely indication that growing economic uncertainties are taking a toll on American households.
The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 125.1 in September from a revised August reading of 134.2. Consumers’ assessments of both current economic conditions and expectations for the next six months slipped.
The trade war with China and a global slowdown have contributed to uncertainties that are clouding the outlook for the U.S. economy.
On Wall Street, the decline in confidence contributed to a pullback in stock gains.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity, has so far shielded the economy from some of the adverse effects of tariff and trade tensions. The latest government estimate of U.S. growth said the economy advanced at a moderate 2% annual pace in the April-June quarter.
Though a healthy job market and low unemployment had helped sustain consumer optimism in previous months, the survey reported that respondents have grown more pessimistic about both business and job market conditions.
U.S. home priCes rise At slowest pACe in 7 yeArs.
W A S HING T
ON» U.S. home prices rose in July from a year earlier by the smallest amount in seven years, as modest sales are forcing sellers to keep costs in check.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index moved up 2% in July from a year ago, down from a 2.2% annual gain in June.
Home sales have picked up in recent months but remain modest. Low mortgage rates have recently encouraged more Americans to take the plunge and buy homes, but sales of existing homes have increased less than 3% in the past year.
Steady hiring and solid wage growth, along with low mortgage rates, have made it easier for more people to consider buying a home.
Smaller price gains may help boost sales further in the coming months. Homebuilding is also now growing at a healthy clip. The housing sector has contracted and lowered economic growth for the past six quarters, but some economists now expect it will boost the economy in the final months of the year.
VolkswAgen Bosses ChArged in GermAny over emissions sCAndAl.
BERLIN» German prosecutors dealt a blow to Volkswagen’s efforts to put the 2015 emissions-cheating case behind it, charging the automaker’s chief executive, chairman and former CEO with stock manipulation for not telling investors at the time that the scandal was about to break.
CEO Herbert Diess, chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch and former CEO Martin Winterkorn were accused of deliberately informing markets too late about the huge costs to VW that would result from the scandal, which erupted when regulators discovered that millions of diesel cars had been fitted with software designed to thwart pollution tests. Winterkorn was previously charged in the scandal itself. Poetsch and Diess had not faced charges until now.
Volkswagen called the new allegations “groundless” and threw its support behind Poetsch and Diess.