2012.05.25 16:18:11 WSJ BLOG/MarketBeat: Consumer Sentiment Jumps; Stocks Shrug

(This story has been posted on The Wall Street Journal Online's Market Beat blog at http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat.) By Steven Russolillo Consumer confidence just jumped to the highest level since October 2007, and the stock market barely blinked. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final reading on consumer sentiment in May rose to 79.3, above the 77.8 figure economists were expecting. The survey underscores how consumers don't appear too perturbed by the latest worries of Greek exit from the euro zone, and instead are feeling better by the continued drop in gas prices. "This is clearly a very strong report," TD Securities says. "The surge in confidence, while at odds with the general pessimism that has descended on financial markets, is largely consistent with improving tone in housing market activity and the decline in gasoline prices recently." As Dow Jones' Kathleen Madigan points out, greater economic confidence tens to support better spending. We'll believe it when we see it. Stocks briefly recovered after the report, but recently have edged toward session lows. At last glance, the Dow was down 38 points, the S&P 500 dropped 1 point and the Nasdaq Comp fell 9 points. Trading volume is subdued ahead of the long holiday weekend. Meanwhile, Treasury prices moved a bit off session highs. Benchmark 10-year notes are up 2/32 to yield 1.752%. Crude oil edged up 0.2% to $90.85 a barrel, while gold rose 0.6% to $1566.10 an ounce. -For continuously updated news from The Wall Street Journal, see WSJ.com at http://wsj.com. (END) Dow Jones Newswires May 25, 2012 10:18 ET (14:18 GMT)