Mubasher: Preliminary estimates released by the University of Michigan indicated that the US consumer confidence recovered from a two-year low by the first half of February.

The consumer sentiment index rose to 95.5 points in February, compared with 91.2 in January, a survey report by Michigan University said on Friday.

“The early February gains reflect the end of the partial government shutdown as well as a more fundamental shift in consumer expectations due to the Fed's pause in raising interest rates,” survey senior economist Richard Curtin said.

The index for current economic conditions also rose 1.1% to 110 points month-on-month in February, but fell 4.3% from the reading for the same month last year.

Moreover, the expectation index climbed 7.9% to 86.2 points in early February from the previous month, while it dropped 4.2% year-on-year.

By 3:03 pm GMT, the US dollar index went up 0.13% to 97.1030.