Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

The production index fell in the week ended Jan. 16, and the unaveraged index was down to 141.6, from 141.7 a week ago. After seasonal adjustment, electric-power output dropped 5.7%, with the largest decreases in available energy in the southeast and mid-Atlantic regions. Crude-oil refining plunged 22.4%, with substantial dips in operations on the West Coast. Output of autos, trucks, coal, lumber, and rail-freight traffic increased during the week.

LEADING INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STOCK PRICES (1/22) S&P 500 1225.19 1243.26 27.9

CORPORATE BOND YIELD, Aaa (1/22) 6.17% 6.16% -7.5

MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (1/11) billions $4,425.4 $4,430.7r 8.9

INITIAL CLAIMS, UNEMPLOYMENT (1/15) thous. 346 360r 6.8

MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS, PURCHASE (1/22) 278.3 276.4 -11.2

MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS, REFINANCE (1/22) 1,572.2 1,634.4 -49.2

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 (1/26) 4.84% 4.55% 5.52%

COMMERCIAL PAPER (1/26) 3-month 4.75 4.77 5.43

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (1/27) 3-month 4.86 4.88 5.55

FIXED MORTGAGE (1/22) 30-year 6.87 6.93 7.11

ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE (1/22) one-year 5.70 5.79 5.64

PRIME (1/22) 7.75 7.75 8.50

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

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STEEL (1/23) thous. of net tons 2,002 1,865# -11.6

AUTOS (1/23) units 104,329 106,333r# 3.5

TRUCKS (1/23) units 125,445 134,999r# 11.3

ELECTRIC POWER (1/23) millions of kilowatt-hrs. 63,563 68,436# -2.5

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (1/23) thous. of bbl./day 14,175 14,832# 0.1

COAL (1/16) thous. of net tons 21,397# 19,351 -6.1

LUMBER (1/16) millions of ft. 484.1# 401.2 9.7

RAIL FREIGHT (1/16) billions of ton-miles 25.6# 23.6 -3.8

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 (1/27) $/troy oz. 283.800 286.000 -5.4

STEEL SCRAP (1/26) #1 heavy, $/ton 84.00 84.00 -42.3

COPPER (1/22) cents/lb. 69.2 69.6 -14.1

ALUMINUM (1/22) cents/lb. 59.3 60.0 -18.2

COTTON (1/22) strict low middling

1-1/16 in., cents/lb. 57.54 57.67 -7.4

OIL (1/26) $/bbl. 11.86 11.89 -29.3

CRB FOODSTUFFS (1/26) 1967=100 205.92 210.02 -9.3

CRB RAW INDUSTRIALS (1/26) 1967=100 262.80 264.16 -12.5

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 (1/27) 1.9050 1.5750 1.1223

BRITISH POUND (1/27) 1.65 1.65 1.64

CANADIAN DOLLAR (1/27) 1.52 1.52 1.46

EUROPEAN EURO (1/27) 1.1454 1.1567 NA

JAPANESE YEN (1/27) 115.75 113.52 124.97

KOREAN WON (1/27) 1176.1 1166.5 1550.0

MEXICAN PESO (1/27)3 10.165 10.195 8.310

TRADE-WEIGHTED DOLLAR INDEX (1/27) 106.5 105.6 109.5

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.

#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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