Consumer confidence down; Sept business equipment orders fall

Washington

THE Conference Board's index of consumer confidence decreased to 97.6 in October from a revised 102.6 a month earlier, the New York-based private research group said on Tuesday. The median forecast of 72 economists in a Bloomberg survey called for a reading of 102.9, with estimates ranging from 98 to 106.2. The index averaged 96.9 during the last expansion and 53.7 during the recession that ended in June 2009.

Meanwhile, orders for business equipment unexpectedly declined in September as tepid global markets gave American companies little reason to expand.