The Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose 0.6% in August, just shy of the 0.7% increase that economists expected, but July’s advance was revised from 0.6% to 0.9%.
This was the fifth-straight gain in the index and the Conference Board said the indicators are consistent with the view that after a severe downturn, a recovery is very near, but the pattern of that recovery is more uncertain.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 41 points (0.4%) to close at 9,779, the S&P 500 Index fell 4 points (0.3%) to 1,065, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 5 points (0.2%) to 2,138. Crude oil fell $2.33 to $69.71 per barrel, and the Bloomberg gold spot price declined $6.80 to $1,006.80 per ounce.
