S. Korean Consumer Confidence Improves In February

South Korea's consumer confidence strengthened in February largely due to signs of an improvement in the U.S. economy, a survey carried out by the Bank of Korea showed Friday.

The sentiment index returned to the benchmark of 100 from 98 in January. A reading of 100 suggests that the number of optimists on the future economy is equal to the number of pessimists.

The survey based on responses from 2,062 households showed that sentiment on current living standards rose to 86 from 83, while that concerning the outlook improved by 4 points to 94 in February.

Consumer sentiment regarding current domestic economic conditions came in at 68 in February, up from 65 a month ago. Moreover, the assessment on their future outlook climbed by 4 points to 80.

Consumer sentiment on prospective changes in total household income edged up to 96 and that on prospective spending decisions gained 2 points to 108.

Consumer sentiment concerning the outlook for price movements dropped by 2 points to 142 and inflation expectations eased by 0.1 percent point to 4 percent.