Real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 1.2 percent in the second quarter of 2016, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 0.8 percent (revised). The increase in real GDP in the second quarter reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and exports that were partly offset by negative contributions from private inventory investment, nonresidential fixed investment, residential fixed investment, and state and local government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased.
Separate report showed that the
MNI Chicago Business Barometer fell 1 point to 55.8 in July from the 1½-year high of 56.8 in June, led by a fall in New Orders. Smaller declines were seen in Production and Order Backlogs, which offset a strong increase in the Employment component. The Barometer’s three-month average, though, which provides a better picture of the underlying trend in economic activity, rose to 54.0 from 52.2 in Q2, the highest since February 2015.
In addition, consumer confidence slid in July from the prior month on dimmer views of the U.S. economy’s prospects and lingering concerns among higher-income earners about global market conditions. The University of Michigan said Friday that its final index of sentiment declined to 90 this month from 93.5 in June. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a reading of 90.2 after July’s preliminary figure of 89.5. “While concerns about Brexit are likely to quickly recede, weaker prospects for the economy are likely to remain,” Richard Curtin, the Michigan survey’s director, said in a statement.
Euro is currently being traded around 1.1150 area, Aussie is near 0.76 handle, while Sterling is near 1.33 level.
