Live Markets: Twofer Tuesday: Sun shines on consumers, rain falls on home prices

Rambus

28/04/2026 16:07

Nasdaq off ~1.1%, S&P 500 declines ~0.6%, Dow edges green

Tech weakest S&P 500 sector; Energy leads gainers

Euro STOXX 600 index off ~0.4%

Dollar up; US crude rallies nearly 4%; bitcoin down >1%; gold down >2%

US 10-year Treasury yield rises to ~4.36%

Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com

TWOFER TUESDAY: SUN SHINES ON CONSUMERS, RAIN FALLS ON HOME PRICES

Economic data often arrives in twos on Tuesdays. And today investors had their pick between an improved consumer confidence reading and a Case-Shiller report that showed home price growth sagging.

The mood of the American consumer, whose spending accounts for about 70% of the U.S. economy, has has turned unexpectedly sunnier this month.

The Conference Board's (CB) consumer confidence index USCONC=ECI gained 0.6 points in April to land at 92.8, standing on the shoulders of January's upwardly revised 92.2.

The number printed 2.8 points north of analyst expectations.

Digging deeper, survey participants' assessment of present conditions softened a tad. But near-term expectations improved by 1.7%, likely related to the two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire that went into effect during the survey period.

"Consumer confidence edged up in April but was overall little changed, despite material concern about rising gasoline prices as the war in the Middle East prompted a surge in Brent crude oil prices,” said Dana M. Peterson, CB's chief economist.

A reminder for data geeks: a widening gap between the present situation and expectations - as seen in the graphic below - is often a harbinger of recession. So this month's narrowing of the gulf between the two provides some assurance that the economy has yet to reach the brink of a downturn:

The "jobs confidence" element of the report - which subtracts "jobs hard to find" from "jobs plentiful" - improved by 1.4 points, but remained at a historically pessimistic level, echoing the general downward trend in the new hires element of the Labor Department's JOLTS report.

Crossing to the housing market's side of the street, home prices in major U.S. cities unexpectedly dropped by 0.1% in February, defying the 0.2% increase analysts expected.

Year-over-year, the Case-Shiller 20-city composite USSHPQ=ECI posted a 0.9% increase, versus the 1.1% consensus.

Compared with consumer prices, "real" home prices continue to soften.

"More than half of major U.S. metropolitan markets posted year-over-year price declines in February, signaling that the housing slowdown has broadened well beyond its Sun Belt origins,” writes Nicholas Godec, Head of Fixed Income Tradables & Commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "With consumer inflation at 2.4%, U.S. home values have lost ground in real terms for nine consecutive months."

Among the cities in the composite, Chicago and New York once again led the year-over-year gainers, rising 5.0% and 4.7%, respectively. Denver ended Tampa's 15-month reign as the biggest loser; home prices in the Mile-High City down 2.2% from February 2025. Home prices in Cigar City dropped 2.1% from a year ago.

"Advocates of cutting interest rates will find support in these results," says Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics.

(Stephen Culp)

*****

EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

US STOCKS WEAKER AS TECH WEIGHS CLICK HERE

STOCKS ARE SCORING RECORDS, BUT THE DOW IS STILL BENCHED CLICK HERE

HALF TIME IN EUROPE CLICK HERE

LEAVIN' ON A JET PLANE... OR NOT CLICK HERE

EQUITY RECOVERY: MORE TO GO OR SOFT PATCH AHEAD? CLICK HERE

SOX PUPPETS CLICK HERE

AN UNEASY LULL CLICK HERE

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: NO WAR, NO PEACE CLICK HERE

BOJ'S HAWKISH HOLD CLICK HERE

Early trade April 28 https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/zdpxggoyavx/Pasted%20image%201777385040901.png

Consumer confidence present situation v expectations https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-STOCKS/dwvkyyrdrvm/consconf.png

Jobs confidence and JOLTS hires https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-STOCKS/klpyllkgevg/consconfjobs.png

Case Shiller and mortgage demand https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-STOCKS/egpbeekkzvq/caseshiller.png

( )