According to the latest Conference Board survey findings, US consumers are widely optimistic of the world’s largest economy’s near term future.  In the month of November, confidence rose by the most in almost 8 years as consumers saw increasing job opportunities and had higher expectations for employment in the short term.  The optimistic vibe led the report to show advancements in sentiment in eight of the nine regions of the country.  Although the report does bode well for a sector that has been in the dumps for most of the year, some are pointing to the fact that responses were taken into account ahead of the Supercommittee’s failure to come to an agreement on $1.2 trillion in budget deficit cuts – thus making it somewhat overstated for the time being.

Forecasts of a 43 index print were overtaken by the survey’s actual reading of 56 – which also beat out October’s lackluster 40.9 release.

Survey subindex readings improved on the month, with the present conditions reading improving to 38.3 from a previous 27.1 and future expectations rising by 17.8 points to a 67.8.  Future income and job availability readings also improved helping the outlook of the labor market in the next six months.

The news helped to boost risk sentiment on the day, supporting buying demand in the Australian dollar against the US dollar.  A benchmark currency of risk tolerance in the market, the AUD has gained by a robust 1.2% against the US dollar, trading above parity once again at 1.0014.