The University of Michigan released the consumer sentiment index for January. The key gauge of the US consumers’ confidence was revised upwards, but it still remained near the 2-year low.

The index improved slightly after the US government reopened. The Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index was revised upwards to 91.2 points versus the preliminary reading of 90.7 points.

Richard Curtin, the Chief Economist at the University of Michigan said that the consumer sentiment might be called pessimistic. Termination of the government shutdown led to insignificant improvement.

At the same time, the Expectations Index rose to 79.9 points comparing to the previous reading of 78.3 points. On the flip side, the indicator reflecting assessment of the current economic conditions declined to 108.8 points from the level of 110.0 points.

Richard Curtin said that the ongoing conflict between Donald Trump and the government should end in order to prevent significant deterioration of the consumer sentiment. If the index remains at the current levels throughout this year, then it can correspond to a rise in the consumer spending of 2.6%.