Leading indicators down

August 19, 2004

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A closely watched gauge of future U.S. economic activity fell in July for the second straight month after a heady pace from earlier in the year, a private research firm said Thursday.

The Conference Board said its index of leading indicators fell 0.3 percent in July to 116.0, after an upwardly revised 0.1 percent fall in June.

It is too soon to tell whether the decline marks the end of the continuous rise in the leading index since March 2003, said the Conference Board. The indicator was below Wall Street forecasts of a 0.2 percent drop.

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