Manufacturing Output Up For 5th Straight Month: 5 Fund Picks
Zacks Investment Research | Nov 18, 2018 09:03PM ET
Manufacturing output advanced for the fifth straight month in October, per data from the Federal Reserve. Despite a fall in vehicle production, manufacturing production rose and offset the fall in the utilities and mining output. This led to the headline industrial production number gaining over October.
Given these positive trends, the addition of mutual funds that have significant exposure to the industrials sector could be a prudent decision. Now, we will take a glance at the encouraging data that raised hopes for these sectors for the coming months.
Manufacturing Gains Offset Declines in Autos, Utilities, Mining
Industrial production increased by 0.1% in October, primarily because the increase in manufacturing output offset declines across several categories. Manufacturing output increased by 0.3% last month, outweighing the declines in mining and utilities. The indexes for these sectors declined 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.
Additionally, the increase in manufacturing came despite a drastic fall in production of motor vehicles by 2.8% after gaining 1.3% in September. However, manufacturing still registered a robust increase of 0.5% after excluding the impact of motor vehicles and parts. This metric had gained 0.2% in September.
The primary catalyst for these gains was a solid increased in output of business equipment, which increased 0.8%. Also, capacity utilization for manufacturing sector, which measures the extent to which companies are utilizing their resources, increased from 76.1 to 76.2 in October, its biggest settlement since July 2015. (Read More: Zacks Investment Research
Get The News You Want
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.