Stocks Look to Shrug Off Dwindling Consumer Confidence
April 05, 2011 at 06:00 AM EDT
High prices for commodities last month sent consumer confidence spiraling to a three-month low, but that doesn't necessarily mean the stock market will suffer. On the contrary, stocks over the past two years actually have performed remarkably well in the months following sharp declines in consumer confidence. In the four prior instances since the start of 2009 in which consumer confidence fell by more than 10% in a month, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose an average of 7.2% the following month with positive returns every single time, according to Bespoke Investment Group. That makes March's steep decline in consumer confidence somewhat easier to stomach. The Conference Board's confidence index fell 11.9% in March to a three-month low of 63.4.