US consumer confidence drops

US consumer confidence retreated in June, after rising in May, likely on the belief the economy does not have much more room to grow, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Sentiment about the current state of the economy and the jobs market remained fairly upbeat but the near-term outlook for the economy fell, according to the Conference Board survey.

The cutoff date for the survey was June 15, which was before the latest trade confrontation with China began as steep US tariffs on hundreds of Chinese goods were announced, although consumer confidence has not seemed to react to the building trade tensions.

But analysts note confidence about the outlook is sensitive to the mood on Wall Street, and stocks have been hit in recent days by the aggressive trade posture from the White House.

The Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 126.4 in June from 128.8 last month, which was a point lower than economists had expected, but remains far above the year-ago level.