Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

The production index declined during the week ended May 17. Before calculationof the four-week moving average, the index was unchanged at 120.6. In thelatest week, seasonally adjusted output levels of autos and trucks bounced backsharply after the end of a strike at Chrysler Corp. But those gains were offsetby drops in steel, electric power, crude-oil refining, and lumber production.Rail-freight traffic was little changed in the week.BW production index copyright 1997 Bloomberg L.P.PRODUCTION INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STEEL (5/24) thous. of net tons 2,154 2,058 # 8.6

AUTOS (5/24) units 127,063 131,974 r# -7.5

TRUCKS (5/24) units 131,604 127,037 r# 8.1

ELECTRIC POWER (5/24) millions of

kilowatt-hrs. NA 57,177 # NA

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (5/24) thous. of

bbl./day NA 14,819 # NA

COAL (5/17) thous. of net tons 21,199 # 20,588 4.2

LUMBER (5/17) millions of ft. 502.0 # 502.9 9.5

RAIL FREIGHT (5/17) billions of

ton-miles 26.3 # 26.1 -0.4

Sources: American Iron & Steel Institute, Ward's Automotive Reports, Edison

Electric Institute, American Petroleum Institute, Energy Dept., WWPA1, SFPA2,

Association of American Railroads

LEADING INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STOCK PRICES (5/23) S&P 500 847.03 829.75 24.8

CORPORATE BOND YIELD, Aaa (5/23) 7.60% 7.55% 0.9

INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS PRICES (5/23) 106.3 106.4 -2.7

BUSINESS FAILURES (5/16) NA NA NA

REAL ESTATE LOANS (5/14) billions NA NA NA

MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (5/12) billions $3,891.7 $3,894.0 r 4.4

INITIAL CLAIMS, UNEMPLOYMENT (5/17)

thous. 322 317 -6.9

Sources: Standard & Poor's, Moody's, Journal of Commerce (index: 1990=100), Dun

& Bradstreet (failures of large companies), Federal Reserve, Labor Dept.

PRICES

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

GOLD (5/28) $/troy oz. 342.800 342.700 -12.3

STEEL SCRAP (5/27) #1 heavy, $/ton 134.50 138.50 -5.6

COPPER (5/23) cents/lb. 119.9 116.7 -1.1

ALUMINUM (5/23) cents/lb. 79.8 79.8 9.3

COTTON (5/24) strict low middling

1-1/16 in., cents/lb. 69.46 69.63 -15.3

OIL (5/27) $/bbl. 20.46 20.77 -2.2

CRB FOODSTUFFS (5/27) 1967=100 237.50 237.36 -11.9

CRB RAW INDUSTRIALS (5/27) 1967=100 337.98 339.76 0.3

Sources: London Wednesday final setting, Chicago market, Metals Week, Memphis

market, NYMEX, Commodity Research Bureau

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

JAPANESE YEN (5/28) 115.80 113.72 108.45

GERMAN MARK (5/28) 1.70 1.69 1.53

BRITISH POUND (5/28) 1.64 1.65 1.54

FRENCH FRANC (5/28) 5.76 5.70 5.19

ITALIAN LIRA (5/28) 1690.0 1666.5 1548.5

CANADIAN DOLLAR (5/28) 1.38 1.37 1.37

MEXICAN PESO (5/28)3 7.904 7.861 7.730

TRADE-WEIGHTED DOLLAR INDEX (5/28) 103.1 102.2 98.4

Sources: Major New York banks. Currencies expressed in units per U.S. dollar,

except for British pound in dollars. Trade-weighted dollar via J.P. Morgan.

INTEREST RATES

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

FEDERAL FUNDS (5/27) 5.59% 5.51% 5.33%

COMMERCIAL PAPER (5/28) 3-month 5.67 5.69 5.37

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (5/28) 3-month 5.69 5.68 5.34

FIXED MORTGAGE (5/23) 30-year 8.08 8.08 8.20

ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE (5/23) one-year 6.01 6.08 5.89

PRIME (5/23) 8.50 8.50 8.25

Sources: Federal Reserve, HSH Associates, Bloomberg Financial Markets

#Raw data in the production indicators are seasonally adjusted in computing the

BW index (chart); other components (estimated and not listed) include machinery

and defense equipment. 1=Western Wood Products Assn. 2=Southern Forest

Products Assn. 3=Free market value NA=Not available r=revised NM=Not

meaningful

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