Thursday’s barrage of economic reports included the Conference Board’s report on the Leading Economic Index, known more commonly as the Leading Economic Indicators report. This report is sometimes confused on how leading it really is because much of the data inside the report is already known to the public ahead of time.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index increased by 0.4% in July to 124.3. This follows a 0.3% increase in June and a 0.2% decline in May. Despite much of the data being known ahead of time, the 0.4% gain was higher than the 0.2% consensus estimate from Bloomberg.

The Coincidental Indicators rose 0.4% in July to 113.9, following a 0.2% increase in June and a 0.1% decline in May.

The Lagging Indicators increased 0.1% in July to 121.8, following a 0.1% decline in June and a 0.4% increase in May.

Thursday’s official commentary from the Conference Board said:

The U.S. LEI picked up again in July, suggesting moderate economic growth should continue through the end of 2016. There may even be some moderate upside growth potential if recent improvements in manufacturing and construction are sustained, and average consumer expectations don’t deteriorate further.

This report rarely moves markets. That being said, the indicators were at least positive and better than expected.

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