Investing.com – Industrial production in the U.S. rose less than expected in July while manufacturing production unexpectedly fell, dampening optimism over the health of the economy, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report that was released earlier than usual, the Federal Reserve said that industrial production increased by 0.2% from the previous month, below expectations for a 0.3% rise and compared to a gain of 0.4% in June.
Meanwhile, manufacturing production decreased by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% last month, missing forecasts for a 0.2% rise and following a gain of 0.2% in June.
The report also showed that the capacity utilization rate, a measure of how fully firms are using their resources, held steady at 76.7% in July, in line with expectations. The prior month was revised upwards from 76.6%.
Following the report, EUR/USD was unchanged at 1.1692, GBP/USD was at 1.2882 from 1.2872 ahead of the release of the data, while USD/JPY traded at 110.25 versus 110.22 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was unchanged at 93.83.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open. The Dow futures fell 58 points, or 0.26%, the S&P 500 futures lost 6 points, or 0.24%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 27 points, or 0.45%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures exchanged hands at $1,290.03, compared to $1,290.46 prior to the release, while crude oil traded at $46.59 a barrel from $46.62 earlier.