INSTANT VIEW 2: Consumer confidence 88.6 in December

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Conference Board said on Thursday its index of consumer sentiment rose to 88.6 in December from an upwardly revised 87.8 in November. The median forecast of economists polled by Reuters was for a reading of 86.5.

KEY POINTS: * The present situation Index fell to 108.3 in December, its lowest since October 2005, from a revised 115.7 in November. * The expectations index rose to 75.5 in December from a revised 69.1.

COMMENTS:

CARY LEAHEY, SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR, DECISION ECONOMICS, NEW YORK:

"The report is not that bad, most people were looking for a two or three point decline. Not surprisingly you had a big drop in the present situation, however expectations went up which is a mild positive.

"The jobs hard to get, which is closely watched, jumped two points. I wouldn't necessary say that is out of the recent range, but that certainly bears watching.

"What is troublesome is that both the Michigan and the Conference Board surveys have made a 15-point move over three months, which is generally indicative of something bad happening to the U.S. consumer.

"The fact that they seem to be stabilizing at an okay level suggests that the something bad may not mean an overall U.S. recession but a situation for retailers that is very difficult because it probably implies that for the first time in 15 years that consumer spending on goods will actually decline in 2008 relative to 2007."

JIM FEHRENBACH, HEAD OF NASDAQ TRADING, PIPER JAFFRAY, MINNEAPOLIS: