Our secondquarter tonnage declined on a year-over-year basis but slightly less

Our secondquarter tonnage declined on a year-over-year basis but slightly less than thedecline we experienced in the first quarter. “Overall, I don’t put much credence into this leadingindicator,” he said. leadingeconomic indicators released Monday rose 0.7 percent in June,exceeding economists’ consensus forecast for an 0.5 percent rise,adding to the impression that a feeble economic recovery may betaking hold. Record low global interest rates and trillions of dollars instimulus spending appear to be helping the world recover from theworst recession in at least 25 years In New York, the Conference Board’s index of U.S. The central role of private capital to potentially help CITsurvive marked an important chapter in the slow healing of lendingmarkets in the now two-year old global financial crisis, someanalysts said. “At this point in the game the government has signaled that’We are no longer writing the checks’,” said William Larkin,portfolio manager with Cabot Money Management in Boston. “That is an important indication (that) going forward, peoplewill have to come up with their own solutions.

It is another signthe administration believes the economy is healthy enough that themarket should be able to deal with CIT no matter what happens,”Larkin added The U.S. government has committed to spending hundreds ofbillions in stimulus and has bailed out financial firms includinginsurer AIG (AIG.N), but talks over a federal rescue of CITcollapsed last week, leaving it to strike a rescue deal with itsbondholders. CREDIT MARKETS SLOWLY HEAL Yet several analysts and bankers said emergency financingmight only delay a CIT bankruptcy filing, in light of skittishnessamong the New York-based company’s customers and its inability toreadily tap capital markets. The company was expected to announce later on Monday theagreement to obtain $3 billion of emergency financing, avoidingbankruptcy, a person close to the matter said.

“The stock holders are cheering because (the rescue) is betterthan a bankruptcy, and the thought is maybe the markets willimprove over the next couple of years,” said Sean Egan, managingdirector at Egan-Jones Ratings Co in Haverford, Pennsylvania. The Dow Jones industrial average bolted more than 1 percenthigher to close at 8848 points .DJI. The dollar hit a six-week low against the euro, as investorswaded back into riskier assets and higher-yielding currenciesfollowing fairly solid U.S corporate earnings posted so far thisquarter [ID:nN20400267] The yen also weakened. The board of CIT, which lends to nearly one million small andmid-sized businesses, approved a $3 billion deal with bondholders,keeping the struggling lender out of bankruptcy, a source close tothe matter said.

[ID:nN206604] The costs to insure CIT’s debt against the risk of defaultfell and the price of its notes jumped in brisk trade on Monday.See [ID:nNYG001575] and [ID:nN20121351] CIT’s shares (CIT.N) nearly doubled in early trade and heldmost of their gains in the afternoon, up 79 percent to $1.27. and European shares, whileAsian stocks outside Japan hit their highest level since lastSeptember when Wall St investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed.Hopes of a recovery in corporate earnings in the months ahead alsohelped [MKTS/GLOB]. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the pace of the most bruisingglobal economic downturn in decades is slowing, Germany’s centralbank said The CIT news and a small rise in the U.S index of leadingeconomic indicators helped lift U.S. lender CIT Group Inc (CIT.N) secured a $3 billion rescue from bondholders, sourcessaid, which some saw as a good omen for credit markets, althoughthe U.S economy is still struggling to emerge from recession. (For more on the financial crisis, click on [nCRISIS]) Stocks  |  Bonds  |  China  |  Japan * CIT board approves $3 bln deal with bondholders -sources * U.S. recession easing but not yet ended -survey * German economy likely contracted in Q2 -Bundesbank * U.S blue chips jump 104 pts; dollar, yen weaker(Updates market moves, adds more analyst comments) By John Parry NEW YORK, July 20 (Reuters) – U.S.