Early Release Of ISM Index Shows Drop To 52.7 In July

U.S. manufacturers decelerated a bit in July after growing at fastest rate in five months in June, a survey of executives found. Market News and Reuters said the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index fell to 52.7% last month from 53.5% in June. That was below than the 53.7% forecast of economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Readings over 50% indicate more companies are expanding instead of shrinking. The key components were mixed: the new orders index edged up to 56.5% from 56.0% while the employment gauge fell sharply to 52.7% from 55.5%. It was not clear why the data was released ahead of the 10 a.m. Eastern scheduled release.