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CHICAGO, Nov. 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — With the holidays fast approaching, there is one certainty: Millennials enter the height of the holiday shopping season with a high level of optimism about their household finances and future income prospects. TransUnion’s TRU Q4 2024 Consumer Pulse study found that 33% of Millennials plan on spending more than $500 this holiday season – the highest of any generation.

The newest Consumer Pulse study is based on a survey of 3,000 American adults between October 1-9, 2024. Among the reasons why Millennials will play a large role this holiday shopping season: 65% are optimistic about their household finances – greater than the 58% total for the entire population and the highest among generations surveyed.

In addition, 41% of Millennials said their income increased during the past three months compared to 29% across generations; 63% of Millennials felt their income would increase in the next 12 months compared to 53% for the entire population.

“We are about to enter the busiest period of the holiday shopping season and it’s a good sign for retailers and lenders that consumers are more optimistic about their household finances compared to one year ago,” said Charlie Wise, senior vice president and head of global research and consulting at TransUnion. “Based on our research, it’s clear that Millennials will play the largest role this holiday shopping season with the greatest expected spend. Consumers, led by Millennials and Gen Z, continue to most value the deals associated with Black Friday and Cyber Monday – either when shopping online or in-person.”

Though the holiday shopping season seemingly starts earlier each year, many consumers continue to be most interested in doing their shopping online or in-person between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday. Four in 10 (41%) Americans are interested in shopping online on Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. About one-third of consumers said they are interested in shopping in-person on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. The next most popular shopping period was prior to Thanksgiving (30%). Only 21% of consumers were interested in last-minute holiday shopping deals.

Credit cards are still the most popular way to make holiday purchases at 38%, followed by debit cards (31%) and cash (16%). Non-traditional payment platforms such as mobile payment apps (ApplePay, PayPal, etc.) are at 7%, followed by Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) at 4%.

Not surprisingly, Gen Z plans on using non-traditional payments at a higher rate than other generations – 15% for mobile payments apps and 7% for BNPL. Millennials also are more apt to use these payment types (10% mobile payment apps; 6% BNPL). “Though the use of non-traditional payments is still relatively small, we do believe BNPL will continue to gain in popularity, especially when BNPL payments become more widely reported to credit bureaus and begin factoring into credit scoring models,” added Wise.

Another reason non-traditional payments could increase in popularity: two-thirds (67%) of consumers said they conduct half or more of their holiday shopping online. This percentage is even higher for Millennials (80%) and Gen Z (73%) with Gen X not far behind at 69% and Baby Boomers at 51%.

Inflation still a worry, but concerns dissipating

Consumer optimism about household finances in the next 12 months increased this past year from 56% in Q4 2023 to 58% this quarter even as inflation for everyday goods remains a top concern. Eight in 10 consumers (80%) ranked inflation in the top three concerns affecting their household finances in the next six months and 46% ranked inflation as their top concern. The good news is that such concerns are down from 84% and 50%, respectively, in the second quarter of 2024.

Despite continuing concern about inflation, 81% of Americans reported their income increased or stayed the same in past three months, indicating a level of stability in household finances. Their income outlook is even stronger with 93% expecting their income to increase or to stay the same.

“While inflation, and higher prices generally, certainly remain a concern, the continued low unemployment rate and wage gains are helping many consumers weather higher costs for everyday goods and services. As long as consumers see continued wage growth and are gainfully employed, we should see healthy spending once more in this upcoming holiday season,” concluded Wise.

For more information about the Consumer Pulse study, please click here. To learn more about inflation and its impact on credit, click here.

About TransUnion TRU

TransUnion is a global information and insights company with over 13,000 associates operating in more than 30 countries. We make trust possible by ensuring each person is reliably represented in the marketplace. We do this with a Tru™ picture of each person: an actionable view of consumers, stewarded with care. Through our acquisitions and technology investments we have developed innovative solutions that extend beyond our strong foundation in core credit into areas such as marketing, fraud, risk and advanced analytics. As a result, consumers and businesses can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good^® — and it leads to economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for millions of people around the world.

http://www.transunion.com/business

U.S. stocks could open on a tentative note on Wednesday amid simmering geopolitical tensions. Futures of all three major indices were marginally up as investors weighed escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and earnings from AI bellwether Nvidia Corp. NVDA.

U.S. equity markets have had a mixed week so far, with the Dow Jones facing pressure even as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq witnessed sideway movements.

In premarket trading on Wednesday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rose 0.13% to $591.05 and the Invesco QQQ ETF QQQ gained 0.10% to $503.96, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Session:

Markets had a second consecutive mixed session, with the Dow Jones closing lower by 0.3% while the S&P 500 edged up. The Nasdaq gained over 1% in the run-up to Nvidia’s earnings.

Crude oil prices continued to gain as Russia-Ukraine tensions escalated.

This geopolitical anxiety rubbed off on treasury yields as well, which edged up.

On the economic data front, housing starts in the U.S. declined by 3.1% to 1.311 million in October versus a revised 1.353 million in the previous month. U.S. building permits declined by 0.6% to an annual rate of 1.416 million in October.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with energy, communication services, and consumer discretionary stocks recording the biggest gains on Monday.

However, industrial stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower.

Insights From Analysts:

Wedbush’s Dan Ives expressed upbeat sentiment about Nvidia’s earnings, saying that the AI giant could deliver earnings beat and raise guidance as well.

“We expect a drop the mic performance from Nvidia tomorrow night as Godfather of AI Jensen & Co. are the only game in town with $1 trillion of AI Cap-Ex on the way with Nvidia’s GPUs the new oil and gold in this world.”

While there is optimism among analysts about Nvidia and other AI stocks, the European Central Bank expressed caution about the possibility of an “AI bubble.”

“This concentration among a few large firms raises concerns over the possibility of an AI-related asset price bubble,” the ECB said in its latest Financial Stability Review, underscoring the increasing dependence of the equity markets on select companies.

This could also be a cause of concern for equity markets beyond the U.S., noted the ECB.

“Also, in a context of deeply integrated global equity markets, it points to the risk of adverse global spillovers, should earnings expectations for these firms be disappointed.”

Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, on the other hand, remained optimistic about equity markets.

“Stocks historically do better in years 1 and 2 of a President who was re-elected vs a new President in office.”

U.S. stocks could open on a tentative note on Wednesday amid simmering geopolitical tensions. Futures of all three major indices were marginally up as investors weighed escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and earnings from AI bellwether Nvidia Corp. NVDA.

U.S. equity markets have had a mixed week so far, with the Dow Jones facing pressure even as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq witnessed sideway movements.

In premarket trading on Wednesday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rose 0.13% to $591.05 and the Invesco QQQ ETF QQQ gained 0.10% to $503.96, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Session:

Markets had a second consecutive mixed session, with the Dow Jones closing lower by 0.3% while the S&P 500 edged up. The Nasdaq gained over 1% in the run-up to Nvidia’s earnings.

Crude oil prices continued to gain as Russia-Ukraine tensions escalated.

This geopolitical anxiety rubbed off on treasury yields as well, which edged up.

On the economic data front, housing starts in the U.S. declined by 3.1% to 1.311 million in October versus a revised 1.353 million in the previous month. U.S. building permits declined by 0.6% to an annual rate of 1.416 million in October.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with energy, communication services, and consumer discretionary stocks recording the biggest gains on Monday.

However, industrial stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower.

Insights From Analysts:

Wedbush’s Dan Ives expressed upbeat sentiment about Nvidia’s earnings, saying that the AI giant could deliver earnings beat and raise guidance as well.

“We expect a drop the mic performance from Nvidia tomorrow night as Godfather of AI Jensen & Co. are the only game in town with $1 trillion of AI Cap-Ex on the way with Nvidia’s GPUs the new oil and gold in this world.”

While there is optimism among analysts about Nvidia and other AI stocks, the European Central Bank expressed caution about the possibility of an “AI bubble.”

“This concentration among a few large firms raises concerns over the possibility of an AI-related asset price bubble,” the ECB said in its latest Financial Stability Review, underscoring the increasing dependence of the equity markets on select companies.

This could also be a cause of concern for equity markets beyond the U.S., noted the ECB.

“Also, in a context of deeply integrated global equity markets, it points to the risk of adverse global spillovers, should earnings expectations for these firms be disappointed.”

Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, on the other hand, remained optimistic about equity markets.

“Stocks historically do better in years 1 and 2 of a President who was re-elected vs a new President in office.”