FRANKFURT, Germany — The European Central Bank and the Bank of England each kept their benchmark interest rates unchanged Thursday in the face of mounting inflation fears and slowing economic growth across Europe.

The decisions to leave key rates at 4.25 percent in the 15 European nations that use the euro and 5 percent in Britain were largely expected but reporters were looking for any hints about the course of the ECB's rate policy when bank president Jean-Claude Trichet speaks to them later.

The ECB's rate is at a seven-year high while the Bank of England has left its rate unchanged at 5 percent since April when it lowered the figure by a quarter of a percentage point.

The ECB in July moved to cool inflation by increasing borrowing costs for the first time in a year to 4.25 percent for the euro-zone.

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WASHINGTON — Orders to U.S. factories rose by a larger-than-expected amount in July as demand for commercial aircraft, heavy machinery and iron and steel all posted solid gains.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that new orders increased by 1.3 percent in July, much stronger than the 0.8 percent increase economists had been expecting. The July advance follows an even bigger 2.1 percent increase in June and represents the fifth straight rise in orders.

Manufacturers have seen a sharp slowdown in the U.S. economy offset by strong gains in foreign demand, helped by a weaker dollar which makes their products more competitive overseas.

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HOUSTON — Hurricane Gustav's threat to the Gulf Coast halted about 15 percent of U.S. refining capacity Sunday, though for now prices at the pump have not risen dramatically.

However, analysts and others say a prolonged disruption in refining operations could cause price spikes of 20 cents per gallon or more, not unlike the surges after hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the region's energy infrastructure three years ago.

Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Valero Energy Corp., North America's largest refiner, were among the companies that said they had shut down Gulf Coast refineries, primarily in south Louisiana.

Altogether, about 2.4 million barrels of refining capacity have been halted, roughly 15 percent of the nation's total, according to figures from Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. The U.S. Gulf Coast is home to nearly half the nation's refining capacity.

"Fifteen percent looks small, but the impact is larger than meets the eye," said Eswaran Ramasamy, director of Platts' U.S. market reporting. "Louisiana refineries supply a chunk of the southern states' product needs — gasoline, diesel, whatever."

For now, prices were climbing only slightly.

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Oil and natural gas exploration companies aren't the only ones licking their chops at emerging shale formations in Texas and other states that may hold vast untapped supplies of natural gas.

Major oil field services firms, including Schlumberger, Halliburton and Baker Hughes, also see big opportunity and are jockeying to get their share of the work.

To those firms, the complex shale formations could bring a windfall of new contracts that call on specialized technologies, which have become indispensable in these frontier areas.

Perhaps nowhere is that truer than in the Haynesville Shale play, a major discovery in northwestern Louisiana and East Texas. Not only is it estimated to be the nation's largest natural gas field and the fourth-largest in the world, it may be among the most difficult of its kind to unlock, creating high demand for sophisticated service work.

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NEW YORK — Stock futures pointed to a moderately higher open Monday as investors remained cautiously upbeat about the recent downturn in oil prices, which dipped further below $114 a barrel even as Tropical Storm Fay headed for Florida.

Light, sweet crude slipped 23 cents to $113.54 a barrel in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after rising in earlier trading.

.Despite worries about Fay disrupting supplies from the Gulf of Mexico, oil prices remain near their lowest levels since early May, thanks to the recent rebound in the dollar and growing signs that developed economies around the world are slowing.

In another positive development, Lowe's Cos. posted a drop in second-quarter profit that was smaller than expected. Its shares rose 2 percent in premarket trading. Still, the home improvement retailer issued a disappointing outlook.

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