Consumer confidence and the stock market

It is no surprise that the confidence of US consumers is closely aligned to the health of the stock market these days. After all, the share of households that own equities is the highest in at least three decades. With that in mind, the recent surge in equity prices – to a record high in the case of the S&P 500 – is likely, all else equal, to have boosted the headline index in tomorrow’s report on consumer confidence from the University of Michigan (UoM).