Q2 GDP Revised Up 0.2 Points; Brightens Glum Futures Market

Stock futures trimmed some early losses Thursday after a revised estimate of second-quarter growth and continued gains on the jobs front reassured investors spooked by international turmoil Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 45 points recently; up from an earlier decline of 54 points. All major indexes opened a half-point or more lower Thursday after closing at or near historic highs. The nation's output of goods and services grew 4.2 percent in the second quarter, up from a 2.1 percent contraction in the first quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday. Also Thursday, weekly unemployment claims fell to 298,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's level and continuing near a rate last seen in 1997. Analysts expected the number at 3,000. Consumer prices rose 1.9 percent in the second quarter, up from 1.4 percent in the first period. Personal spending increased 2.5 percent in the second quarter, compared with 1.2 percent in the first period. Nonresidential fixed investment increased 8.4 percent in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 1.6 percent in the first, while commercial construction grew 9.4 percent, compared with an increase of 2.9 percent in the first three months of the year.