ISM manufacturing data released early, has soft tone

Marketwatch reports:

A key report on U.S. manufacturing was released earlier than scheduled and immediately raised some doubt about the strength of the economy in the final half of the year.

The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index fell to 52.7% in July from 53.5% in June.

The decline was unexpected. A survey of economists by MarketWatch had forecast a 53.7% reading.

The data “suggests that the economic recovery is leaking momentum going into the second half of this year,” said Millan Mulraine, deputy head of U.S. Strategy at TD Securities.

The great moments of the Obama recovery.