INSTANT VIEW: Mood of consumers sours more in April

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence fell for a third straight month in April, hitting its weakest in more than a quarter century on heightened worries over inflation and the sagging housing market, a survey showed on Friday.

KEY POINTS: * The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its final index of confidence fell deeper into recessionary territory, to 62.6 from 69.5 in March. * The reading was just below economists' median expectation of a reading of 63.2, according to a Reuters poll. * The April result is the lowest since March 1982's level of 62.0., when the "stagflationary" period of low growth and high inflation was still an issue for many Americans.

COMMENTS:

CARLEY GARNER, SENIOR ANALYST, ALARON TRADING, LAS VEGAS:

"The stock market seemed to have a much more dramatic reaction than the bond market did, although the bond market did find a little bit of footing. The problem in the bond market

at this point is that sentiment is extremely bearish, which tells me we're probably due for a bounce."

DAVID BIANCO, CHIEF US EQUITY STRATEGIST, UBS, NEW YORK:

"Irrelevant for the market. We have a consumer-led recession and the S&P 500 is showing that's irrelevant to them. Maybe that survey is interesting to the U.S. economy but from the perspective of someone looking at the S&P 500, it's irrelevant because we're having double-digit earnings growth from non-financial during a U.S. recession, it's a concern for small companies exposed to consumer. The S&P 500 is in a different world from the consumer. Period."

SUBODH KUMAR, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, SUBODH KUMAR &