By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer confidence dropped in June after rising for three months, while single-family home prices unexpectedly climbed in April from March.
The report Tuesday from The Conference Board, an industry group, showed the drop in confidence came from worries about the labor market, which has been one of weakest areas of the U.S. economy.
The group's index of consumer attitudes fell to 52.9 in June from a downwardly revised 62.7 in May. The June figure was sharply below the median of forecasts from analysts polled by Reuters.
"It reflects the pessimism within the labor market. I think there is still quite a bit of nervousness from Europe, which isn't fading," said Sean Simko, fixed-income portfolio manager in Oaks, Pennsylvania. Concerns over the sovereign debt of some European nations have fueled worries about global economic growth.
Friday brings the U.S. government's monthly jobs report, one of the most widely watched economic indicators. The report is forecast to show non-farm payrolls fell in June, according to a Reuters survey.
U.S. stocks added to losses and the Standard & Poor's 500 index <.SPX> was down more than 2 percent after the confidence data, while the U.S. dollar extended declines versus the Japanese yen and U.S. Treasury debt prices added gains.
In another report, Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes showed a final sales push before tax credits expired drove single-family home prices up in April.
The S&P composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas for April rose 0.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis after a downwardly revised 0.2 percent drop in March, compared with a 0.1 percent decline forecast in a Reuters survey. March prices were previously reported as unchanged.
On an unadjusted basis, prices gained 0.8 percent in April following March's 0.5 percent drop. A 0.2 percent rise was forecast in a Reuters poll.
The 20-city index rose 3.8 percent in April from a year earlier, topping the expected 3.4 percent increase.
Home sales have fallen precipitously in the weeks since the April 30 end of tax credits of up to $8,000, which pushed sales forward as buyers raced to lock in the incentive.
(Additional reporting by Lynn Adler, John Parry and Wanfeng Zhou, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
