The Conference Board released its consumer confidence index for the U.S. on Tuesday. The index dropped to 97.6 in October from 102.6 in September, missing expectations for a rise to 103.0. September's figure was revised down from 103.0.

The decline was mainly driven by the worse outlook for current conditions. The present conditions index fell to 112.1 in October from 120.3 in September.

The Conference Board's consumer expectations index for the next six months decreased to 88.0 in October from 90.8 in September.

"Consumers were less positive in their assessment of present-day conditions, in particular the job market, and were moderately less optimistic about the short-term outlook. Despite the decline, consumers still rate current conditions favourably, but they do not anticipate the economy strengthening much in the near-term," the director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, Lynn Franco, said.

The percentage of consumers expecting more jobs in the coming months was down to 22.2% in October from 24.8% in September.