Jefferies economist Tom Simons........>

US DATA REACT: Jefferies economist Tom Simons noted "industrial production rose

0.2% in July, following an unrevised 0.4% increase in June. The July consensus

call was for a 0.3% increase in Industrial Production, so the headline data came

in a little bit weaker than expectations.

- He added "the June Capacity Utilization rate was unchanged from an upwardly

revised 76.7% in June. CapU was right on expectations, as the consensus call was

76.7%."

- He said the "detail of this month's industrial production data is somewhat

discouraging and a little bit surprising, as the weakness was concentrated in

manufacturing output. Manufacturing output (which represents over 78% of the

overall index) fell 0.1%, including a 3.6% decline in motor vehicle output. Auto

and light truck assemblies fell to 10.02 mln units from 10.77 mln units, and

total assemblies fell to 10.29 mln units from 11.07 mln units."