Consumer sentiment edges up for second successive month

Muted consumer sentiment edged slightly higher for the second successive month in November on falling energy prices and growing hopes that interest rates may have peaked.

The Credit Union Consumer Sentiment index rose to 61.9 from 60.4 in October, when it rebounded from a six-month low.

The index stood at 77 in February 2022, before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and dropped to a 14-year low of 42.1 in September 2022 amid a cost-of-living crunch.

The Irish economy was still the fastest growing in the euro zone last year, although momentum has slowed this year and the economy is expected to grow at a similar pace next year.

"It may be that small improvements in confidence in each of the past two months at least tentatively point towards the possibility of a more positive trend in Irish consumer sentiment and spending over end-year and into early 2024," the survey's authors said. -Reuters