U.S. INDEX SAID CONSISTENT WITH GROWTH FORECAST
Robert Ortner, under secretary of
commerce, said last month's 0.4 pct rise in the Index of
Leading Indicators was consistent with growth of 3.0 pct this
year.
    He said in a statement that stock prices accounted for a
large share of the index's growth in the last six months.
    "Excluding stock prices, the rate of increase was still a
healthy 6.2 pct and is consistent with 3.0 pct or more overall
economic growth during 1987," he said.
 Reuter
