Michigan Consumer Expectations comes in at 51.5 against 50.6 consensus

Michigan Consumer Expectations for August 2026 was released today at 14:00 UTC. The actual figure came in at 51.5, exceeding the consensus estimate of 50.6. This represents a surprise of 1.8% compared to expectations. The previous reading for the series was also 50.6.

Following the release, the US Dollar strengthened against major currencies. AUDUSD moved -23 pips 15 minutes after the release, while EURUSD was down -32 pips and GBPUSD fell -27 pips. NZDUSD also declined by -25 pips. Conversely, USDCAD rose +31 pips, USDCHF gained +31 pips, and USDJPY increased by +26 pips. Gold, XAUUSD, saw a move of -726 pips. These 15-minute moves are larger than the median 1-hour moves observed after past releases, for example, EURUSD’s median 1-hour move is 12 pips and XAUUSD’s is 30 pips. The moves for most pairs are also approaching or exceeding their respective top-quarter historical moves, such as USDCAD’s median 1-hour move of 13 pips and top-quarter move of 24+ pips.