Consumer confidence levels, which many economists consider an early

Agree with B

Key things tested here are usage of correct tense & contrast to complete a thought. Only B gives you both

B. "Sagged" requires "tumbled" not "has tumbled". To contrast "but" is required, => A or B. "to give a clear signal" is better than "for giving ...".

need to use 'to give'; sagged so tumbled.
B.

Can some one please explain the expression "but not dramatically enough to give" parallel to which part of the sentence

The word 'but' is also used, though rarely, as a subordinate conjunction meaning 'though.' In such cases, the 'but' is not required to maintain parallelism just as a coordinating conjunction is required to do. The real parsing of the B in this case will be
'tumbled, although not dramatically enough to give' -- Now 'although not dramatically enough to give' is an adverbial modifier modifying the previous clause 'as the stock market tumbled'.

(A) tumbled, but not dramatically enough for giving - Need "to give" to show intention. Correct Idiom: "enough to".

(B) tumbled, but not dramatically enough to give - Correct

(C) tumbled, and not so dramatically as to have given - Need "but" for contrast.

(D) has tumbled, and not dramatically enough to give - Need "but" for contrast. Need simple past tense "tumbled" instead of present perfect "has tumbled" since this action happened in the past and should be parallel to the simple past tense "sagged".

(E) has tumbled, but not so dramatically as to give - Need simple past tense "tumbled" instead of present perfect "has tumbled" since this action happened in the past and should be parallel to the simple past tense "sagged".

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