Market News on Oct 17 Friday 8.00PM IST

Confidence among US consumers fell the most on

record in October as job losses and turmoil in the financial

market raiqed the risk spending will decline.

The Reuters / University of Michigan preliminary

index of consumer sentiment fell to 57.5 from 70.5

in September , the biggest decline since records began

in 1978 . The measure which averaged 85.6 in 2007

was lower than forecast.