Robert Ortner, under secretary ofcommerce, said last month's 0.4 pct rise in the Index of
Leading Indicators was consistent with growth of 3.0 pct this
year.
    He said in a statement that stock prices accounted for a
large share of the index's growth in the last six months.
    "Excluding stock prices, the rate of increase was still a
healthy 6.2 pct and is consistent with 3.0 pct or more overall
economic growth during 1987," he said.
 Reuter
