Forecasts for June's ISM manufacturing index on July 1 will be getting a bit of a lift from S&P's manufacturing flash which is up 4 tenths so far this month to a slightly better-than-expected 51.7. The closely watched ISM, at a disappointing 48.7 in May, has been struggling below breakeven 50 for much of the last two years, in some contrast to S&P's PMI which has been in the low 50s range all year.

Forecasts for ISM's services index on July 3 are also likely to get a boost from June's S&P flash which also rose 3 tenths to a very solid 55.1 that indicates moderate-to-strong growth in general activity compared to May. ISM's measure, at 53.8 in May, has been in the mid-to-low 50s since early last year.

New orders for S&P's manufacturing sample posted a third straight increase though gains were limited by weakness in export orders. Output for the manufacturing sample is growing at a slower pace this month. S&P's services sample reported the strongest rate of new orders in a year, a reading that hints perhaps at acceleration for US GDP.

Yet in an ominous note, optimism among manufacturers fell to a year-and-a-half low on lack of confidence over demand and to what the report vaguely attributes to uncertainty ahead of the presidential election. Sentiment for the services sample is strong.

June's consensus for manufacturing is 51.0 which would be little changed from May's 50.9 that, however, was up more than a point from April. Services jumped 3.5 points in May to 54.8 with give back to 53.7 the consensus for June.

The flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) provides an early estimate of current private sector output by combining information obtained from surveys of around 1,000 manufacturing and service sector companies. The flash data are released around 10 days ahead of the final report and are typically based upon around 85 percent of the full survey sample. The report tracks changes in variables such as new orders, stock levels, employment and prices across both manufacturing and services. Production is also tracked, defined as"production" for manufacturing and"output" for services. Results are synthesized into a single index which can range between zero and 100. A reading above (below) 50 signals rising (falling) output versus the previous month and the closer to 100 (zero) the faster output is growing (contracting). The report also contains flash estimates of the manufacturing and services PMIs. The data are produced by S&P Global.

Investors need to keep their fingers on the pulse of the economy because it dictates how various types of investments will perform. By tracking economic data such as the purchasing managers' manufacturing indexes, investors will know what the economic backdrop is for the various markets. The stock market likes to see healthy economic growth because that translates to higher corporate profits. The bond market prefers less rapid growth and is extremely sensitive to whether the economy is growing too quickly and causing potential inflationary pressures.