24/7 Wall St.

This Friday marked the final Reuters University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment reading for the month of April. After a weak gross domestic product reading, the fix was already in and, this being a revision, should have a very muted impact on the markets.

Today’s report came out at 76.4, above the preliminary reading of 72.3 and above the Bloomberg consensus reading of 73.0. Bloomberg even showed a range of 71.0 to 77.0 from its pool of economists.

We have taken issue with this reading in the past because the sample size of the poll is so small when compared to the more representative consumer confidence reading released each month by the Conference Board. That being said, this seems to be about the first bit of above-consensus news we have seen in a while. So regardless of our opinion, this may matter a bit more than other revisions because of its positive bias.

The S&P 500 Index is down 1.50, at 1,583.68, and the DJIA is up by 33 points, at 14,733, after the news. Think of the good news here. At least some economic readings can tick higher.