Quick Overview

• U.S. jobless claims rose 6,000 last week to 316,000.
  

• The Conference Board's index of U.S. leading indicators rose 0.1% in July to 138.3.
  

• The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's regional index of business activity improved from 9.6 to 17.5 in July.
  

• Assets of the nation's retail money market mutual funds rose by $5.58 billion in the latest week to $814.10 billion, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday.
  
  

• The U.S. DoE said that underground supplies of natural gas were up 52 billion cubic feet to 2.515 trillion cubic feet.
  

• In the new 2005-2006 season, U.S. cotton exports are up 46% YoY
  

• Argentina's jobless rate fell by nearly a full percentage point in the second quarter as new jobs were created due to a pickup in the economy, the economy ministry said on Thursday,
  

• U.K. retail sales were down 0.3% in July.
  

• YoY consumer prices in the Euro zone were up 2.2% in July
  

• YoY Taiwan's GDP was up 3% in the second quarter.
  

• Mexico cut its forecast for 2005 economic growth to 3.5 percent after sluggish U.S. demand for car exports unexpectedly slowed expansion in the second quarter, a senior presidential advisor said on Thursday.
  
  

• Peru is officially raising its 2005 growth goal to 5.5 percent and fully expects to beat that, new Economy Minister Fernando Zavala said on Thursday.