A measure of how the US economy may perform over the next three to six months was unchanged in October from the previous month, the Conference Board said today The research group's leading economic indicators held steady last month, after falling 0.4pc in September Although the leading indicators index has not risen in five months, the news was still better than expected and the steady figure ends a four-month losing streak The Board's index of coincident indicators, a gauge of current economic activity, was unchanged for a second straight month The leading indicators are not normally a key driver of the market, but they follow jobless figures earlier today that also paint a slightly brighter picture of the US economy. The Labour Department reported that new claims for unemployment benefits plunged last week to the lowest level in four months
The encouraging report revealed that number of US workers filing new claims fell 25,000 to 376,000 for the week to 16 November. Importantly, the four week average of claims, a less volatile measure than the weekly number, fell below 400,000 for the first time in 11 weeks, indicating that layoffs may be stabilising //www.fxcentre.com