U.S. consumer sentiment falls slightly in March

U.S. consumer sentiment fell in March affected by harsh weather and a small rebound in gas prices, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment revealed on Friday.

The final reading of the consumer sentiment in March fell to 93 from 95.4 in February.

"The harsh winter weather and the small rebound in gas prices caused some slippage in consumer confidence since the start of the year," said survey director Richard Curtin in a statement.

The survey found the straight sliding of consumer sentiment in February and March was mainly caused by lower income households, who are more sensitive to higher utility costs and disruptions in work hours.

Households with incomes in the middle and top thirds of the distribution recorded gains in confidence in the March survey and consumer optimism reached a 10-year peak of 95.5 in the first quarter of 2015.

"Expanding job opportunities as well as more favorable wage gains have meat that consumer spending will rebound during the balance of the year," said Curtin.

The sub-index of current conditions, reflecting Americans' perceptions of their financial situation and whether they consider it a good time to buy big-ticket items like cars, fell to 105 from 106.9 last month.

The sub-index gauging consumer expectations for six months from now, which more closely projects the direction of consumer spending, decreased to 85.3 from 88 in February. Endite