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Boom/Gloom Index indicates downturn underway

Consumer demand, Economic growth, Financial Events
By Paul Hodges on 02-Sep-2010

Index Sept10.pngLast month’s IeC Boom/Gloom Index showing a worrying weakness in sentiment, particularly when the world’s major stock markets had actually recorded good performances in July, albeit on low volume.

But as the chart shows, this month confirms the downturn reading, with the Index (blue column) below the 4.0 level. Further confirmation of this reading comes from the 4.7% fall in the US S&P 500 Index over the month. Crude oil prices, which have been strongly correlated with the S&P, have also weakened sharply.

The only positive is that the Austerity reading (red line) fell back to April’s level. But, of course, this was still high by comparison with earlier months. And with the return of politicians from their summer holidays, the austerity message may well start to gain in volume again.