New York, NY, Aug. 20—The Conference Board’s Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose 0.3%in July to 109.9. The increase in July was the fourth consecutive increase, suggesting that the economy may improve in the coming months.

“The signal from the index, in terms of its depth and breadth, is that economic conditions, sluggish through the first half of the year, could begin to make way for a better economy this fall,” Conference Board economist Kenneth Goldstein said.

The index is closely watched because it indicates where the overall U.S. economy is headed in the next three to six months. It stood at 100 in 1996, its base year.

The U.S. economy has been besieged over the past year by anemic corporate earnings, plunging stock prices, massive layoffs and a downward spiral in the manufacturing sector.

The Conference Board said five of the ten components that make up the leading indicators index increased last month: money supply, average weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance, interest rate spread, average weekly manufacturing hours and index of consumer expectations.

The negative contributors to the index were stock prices, building permits and vendor performance. Other indicators held steady.

The group's index of coincident indicators, which measures current economic activity, edged up 0.1% in July to 116.3. The index of lagging indicators, which reflect changes that have already occurred, decreased 0.7% to 104.7.

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