The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment for January rose to 74.0 from 69.9 at the end of December. The gauge was projected to rise to 71.5, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.
Estimates ranged from 68.5 to 77 in the Bloomberg survey of 68 economists. The measure averaged 89 in the five years leading up to the recession that began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009.
