Spain's leading indicators rise

Spain's Leading Economic Index rose 0.3 percent in September, the Conference Board said Wednesday. The rise, which makes the second gain in six months, breaks with a trend of increasing declines in the country's LEI. Between March and September, Spain's LEI fell 2.1 percent, which is an annual rate of 4.2 percent. That is steeper than its 3 percent decline at an annual rate during the previous six months, the Conference Board said. On the positive side, for the four months prior to November's increase, the LEI has been "relatively flat," the research firm said. For September, the six components that make up the LEI were split with three rising and three falling. For the month, gains were noted in government bond yields -- the lower the better -- and the Spanish equity index. Job placings provided the largest drag on the index, the Conference Board said. The leading indicators for the month reached 102.1. The figure is a comparison to 2004, the year the index was assigned a value of 100.