INSTANT VIEW: Comments on consumer confidence

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Conference Board said on Tuesday its index of consumer sentiment fell in March to 64.5 -- its lowest since March 2003 -- from an upwardly revised 76.4 in February.

The median forecast of economists polled by Reuters was for a reading of 73.5 in March. February's index was originally reported at 75.0.

KEY POINTS: * The Conference Board said its expectations index fell to 47.9 -- its lowest since January 1974 -- from an upwardly revised 58.0 in February.

COMMENTS:

NIGEL GAULT, CHIEF U.S. ECONOMIST, GLOBAL INSIGHT, WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS:

"This is a very poor reading for the headline. These are dramatic declines with all the bad news hitting the consumers. It's hard to say anything positive for the consumers. The tax rebate will help consumers but it's not a cure.

"We are looking at plunging consumer confidence since last summer. Consumers are pulling back. We are seeing weakness in (demand for) big-ticket items and anything related to the homes. It's also bad news for autos.

"For the immediate future, consumer spending will be very weak. It also raises the question how much of a boost we will get from the tax rebate. With confidence this low, they will likely save the rebate rather than spend it."

STEPHEN MALYON, CURRENCY STRATEGIST, SCOTIA CAPITAL, TORONTO:

"It underscores the fact that the U.S. economy is under significant pressure even though the Fed has been very responsive to the situation in the credit markets. At the end of the day the economy is still under significant stress and this just shines through in the decline in consumer confidence.

"Given the lags in terms of polling these numbers, the survey was likely taken as credit crisis reached its crescendo over the past couple of weeks. We might see the numbers turn around a little bit in the April survey given that the Fed looks like it has been partially successful in restoring some of the confidence in the credit market.

"We have seen the yen begin to rally, equity markets are down on the day in the United States so it does look like it caused risk appetite to be reduced. The euro hasn't really done too much since the numbers."

PETER KRETZMER, SENIOR ECONOMIST, BANC OF AMERICA SECURITIES, NEW YORK:

"These are very weak numbers, to have back to back numbers declining at this pace. I would certainly call these recession-type numbers. Expectations were down below 50 and the lowest since 1973 -- we all know that was a pretty poor time with higher costs like now, but also a very weak economy.

Even if the financial market stabilizes we are likely to see the labor market weaken for a couple of quarters. Given that, the Fed is likely to have further easing to do, the rapid turnaround is no where in sight. When you add to that the risk of further bad financial news and credit issues getting worse, it is hard to bet against further interest rate cuts."

JIM AWAD, CHAIRMAN, W.P. STEWART & CO. LTD., NEW YORK: