The Institute for Supply Management says its manufacturing index last month read 52.6. That's down from 53.2 in June, but anything higher than 50 signals growth.
Production grew faster, the Associated Press reported. New orders grew at a slightly slower pace. Employment contracted in July after having risen modestly in June. It also fell in May and April.
U.S. factories have recovered after being pounded by economic weakness overseas and a strong dollar, which made their goods costlier in foreign markets. The ISM index stayed below 50 from October through February before turning positive in March.
The Bank of England looks ready to cut interest rates for the first time since 2009 on Thursday, seeking to stop Britain's vote to leave the European Union from kicking the country into recession.
It may even go a step further and pump billions of pounds into financial markets.
Most economists polled by Reuters expect the BoE to cut interest rates by at least a quarter percentage point to 0.25 percent, and almost half say it will restart its quantitative easing bond purchase program, on hold since late 2012.
U.S. crude tumbled below $40 per barrel on Monday for the first time since April, as oil prices settled down nearly 4percent on heightened worries of a crude glut despite peak summer fuel demand.
A nearly 15-percent slump in U.S. crude prices in July, the biggest monthly loss in a year, also triggered liquidation as trading began for August.
U.S. West Texas intermediate (WTI) crude plumbed $39.86, its lowest since April 20, before settling at $40.06, down $1.54, or 3.7 percent.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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