Consumer Sentiment Unexpectedly Down A Little

The latest number from University of Michigan's index for U.S. consumer sentiment, as of (early) March, was released; it was lower than expected. It dropped from February's 73.6 to 72.5, despite an expectation for it to be unchanged. The number knocked down the U.S. stock market, but had little effect on the U.S. Dollar Index.

It did, however, have some effect on gold. Amplifying a decline that was kicked off by an unexpectedly strong U.S. retail sales, gold ended up dropping to $1,105.50 as of 10:10 AM ET.

Oddly, both good and bad economic news pushed down gold this morning. Perhaps this dichotomy has something to do with recent weakenss in the market, despite last night's recovery.