A report on Wednesday showed that US wholesale inventories edged up 0.1 percent in July, the smallest rise since July of last year, after a 0.2 percent gain in June. This was well below the 0.5 percent increase expected by economists.
Some economists lowered their GDP growth forecasts for the third quarter following the report. Barclays cut its third-quarter growth forecast by 0.2 percentage point to a 2.5 percent annual rate. Action Economics lowered its forecast to a 2.8 percent rate from 3.0 percent.
Data from Japan, however, have been more positive.
A report from Japan on Wednesday showed that core machinery orders rose 3.5 percent in July. Orders had jumped 8.8 percent in June following a 19.5 percent plunge in May.
A report from Japan on Thursday showed that the business sentiment index for large manufacturing rose to 12.7 in the third quarter from -13.9 in the second quarter. For all industries, the BSI rose to 11.1 from -14.6.
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