Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

The production index was down in the week ended Dec. 26. Before calculation of the four-week moving average, the index also fell, to 141.8 from 142.9 in the previous week. After seasonal adjustment, output of coal, lumber, and rail-freight traffic were down--mostly due to the typical holiday week volatility and, in the case of lumber, weather problems in the Pacific Northwest. Output of steel, autos, trucks, electric power, and crude oil increased.

LEADING INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STOCK PRICES (12/31) S&P 500 1229.23 1231.93 26.1

CORPORATE BOND YIELD, Aaa (12/31) 6.23% 6.37% -7.0

MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (12/21) billions $4,425.1 $4,406.4r 9.3

INITIAL CLAIMS, UNEMPLOYMENT (12/25) thous. 368 289r 16.5

MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS, PURCHASE (1/1) 249.0 279.8 6.4

MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS, REFINANCE (1/1) 1,468.5 1,441.3 51.0

Sources: Standard & Poor's, Moody's, Federal Reserve, Labor Dept., Mortgage Bankers Assn. (Index: March 16, 1990=100)

INTEREST RATES

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

FEDERAL FUNDS (1/5) 4.54% 4.88% 5.35%

COMMERCIAL PAPER (1/5) 3-month 4.80 5.03 5.51

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (1/6) 3-month 4.93 5.20 5.58

FIXED MORTGAGE (1/1) 30-year 6.99 6.91 7.26

ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE (1/1) one-year 5.75 5.73 5.75

PRIME (1/1) 7.75 7.75 8.50

Sources: Federal Reserve, HSH Associates, Bloomberg Financial MarketsPRODUCTION INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STEEL (1/2) thous. of net tons 1,784 1,838# -20.4

AUTOS (1/2) units 0 70,442r# NM

TRUCKS (1/2) units 0 87,361r# NM

ELECTRIC POWER (1/2) millions of kilowatt-hrs. 64,171 65,747# 3.6

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (1/2) thous. of bbl./day 15,350 14,927# 3.3

COAL (12/26) thous. of net tons 15,104# 22,580 -11.5

LUMBER (12/26) millions of ft. 245.8# 489.4 -14.9

RAIL FREIGHT 1;9.2# 28.0 -5.4

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

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

Association of American Railroads

PRICES

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

GOLD (1/6) $/troy oz. 287.650 286.950 2.1

STEEL SCRAP (1/5) #1 heavy, $/ton 84.00 85.50 -41.5

COPPER (1/1) cents/lb. 69.6 68.6 -13.0

ALUMINUM (1/1 cents/lb. 60.0 59.5 -18.4

COTTON (1/1) strict low middling

1-1/16 in., cents/lb. 58.47 59.67 -8.4

OIL (1/5) $/bbl. 11.85 11.25 -28.8

CRB FOODSTUFFS (1/5) 1967=100 201.63 196.14 -12.7

CRB RAW INDUSTRIALS (1/5) 1967=100 263.47 263.32 -13.3

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

market, NYMEX, Commodity Research Bureau

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

BRAZILIAN REAL (1/6) 1.2089 1.2079 1.1171

BRITISH POUND (1/6) 1.65 1.68 1.63

CANADIAN DOLLAR (1/6) 1.51 1.55 1.43

EUROPEAN EURO (1/6) 1.1602 NA NA

JAPANESE YEN (1/6) 113.15 115.47 131.63

KOREAN WON (1/6) 1158.5 1209.1 1745.0

MEXICAN PESO (1/6)3 9.770 9.870 8.055

TRADE-WEIGHTED DOLLAR INDEX (1/6) 104.6 106.3 111.0

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

except for British pound and European Euro in dollars. Trade-weighted dollar

via J.P. Morgan.

#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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