FT.com – US consumer confidence is sinking, weighed down by high energy prices and the downturn in the housing market. In a quiet week for data releases, a further decline is expected in US consumer confidence data for December, due on Thursday. The consensus forecast is for a fall from 87.3 in November to 86.8 but the risk is for a larger decline as confidence sinks towards the trough reached in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the resulting devastation in New Orleans.