The lone major economic report today — the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index — came in “right on expectations,” RBC Financial Group says, and points to a firming of the U.S. economy.

In a report by economist Carl Gomez, the bank says the Chicago PMI moved slightly higher to 52.5 in June, from 52.2 the month before.

“This is good news in the sense that manufacturing sentiment indicators such as this one are starting to point in the right direction – up, so markets will be taking the release positively,” Gomez said.

He said some components of the index showed a marginal improvement including new orders, order backlogs, supplier deliveries and inventories. The employment component also edged slightly higher while the prices paid component slipped below the contractionary threshold of 50 to 49.1.

“This report, in tandem with other regional PMI’s, points to an improvement into expansionary territory for the all-important and broader-based ISM indicator tomorrow. Moreover, it also points to a U.S. economy that appears to be firming heading into the third quarter. “

He noted that Tuesday will see the release of the ISM report for June, with Wednesday’s factory orders. Those reports should also give a good indication on manufacturing conditions.