Canadian consumer confidence down

International economic turmoil has eroded Canadian consumer confidence for a fourth straight month, an international tracking agency reported Thursday. The TNS Canada group uses its own index in monthly survey of 1,015 adults throughout the country, where 100 or above indicates optimism. It reported its confidence index fell to 95.2 this month from 100.3 in June. TNS Vice President Norman Baillie-David said most of the pessimism is sourced outside the country. "The global economy has had nothing good to offer Canadian consumers in terms of news, and the result is that our confidence continues to suffer," he said. "Canadians certainly don't see the end of these problems any time soon, and the fear now is that the downward slide in confidence will cause Canadians to tighten their holiday spending plans, which will serve to bring the world's problems home to the Canadian economy." The survey was conducted between Oct. 3 and Oct. 17 and has a 3.1 percent margin of error, the release said.