Consumer sentiment plunges amid tariff and inflation worries

U.S. consumer sentiment swooned in March, with a preliminary gauge released by the University of Michigan on Friday proving far weaker than economists had expected.

The results are "a reflection of the Great Uncertainty around the economic policies put forward by the Trump administration," commented High Frequency economist Carl Weinberg. "Consumer spending may become restrained by caution until the Trump economic agenda becomes clear." 

The preliminary results show the index fell to 57.9, compared with 64.7 a month ago, according to the Friday report. Economists had expected consumer confidence to hold relatively steady, according to financial-data company FactSet.