Looking Up

Here’s the latest on the economy:

The Conference Board, an independent New York business research group, said its gauge of leading economic indicators rose 0.4 percent last month, to 112.5 percent, from 0.3 percent in June.

Also yesterday, the Labor Department reported that the number of people who filed new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in six months.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, meanwhile, said its index of regional factory business conditions surpassed forecasts in August.

Wall Street responded favorably to the reports. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 26.17 points, or 0.3 percent, closing at 9423.68. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Stock Market composite index rose 17.01, or 1 percent, to 1777.55, its highest point since January. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index advanced 2.97, or 0.3 percent, to end the day at 1003.27.

“What we’ve got this summer is not signs that the economy might get better, but proof that it’s actually getting better,” Ken Goldstein, an economist for the Conference Board, said. “The big picture is that after having spent a year and a half in limbo, the economy is finally getting somewhere.”

Hope you bought into an index fund back in January.