Investing.com - The New York Federal Reserve’s index of manufacturing conditions contracted for the third consecutive month in October, dampening optimism over the strength of the economy, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that its general business conditions index improved to -11.4 this month from a reading of -14.7 in September. Analysts had expected the index to rise to -8.0 in October.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates improving conditions, below indicates worsening conditions.
The survey indicated that new orders, shipments, and unfilled orders all declined at a steeper pace than last month.
Price indexes suggested that input prices held steady, while selling prices declined at the fastest pace since 2009.
Labor market indicators pointed to a continued decline in employment levels and hours worked.
Indexes for the six-month outlook were little changed from last month, and suggested that optimism about future conditions remained tepid.
The Empire State index is of interest to traders primarily because it is seen as an early forecast of the national Institute for Supply management factory survey.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1407 from around 1.1442 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5450 from 1.5471 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 118.48 from 118.22 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 94.32, compared to 94.07 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures rose 89 points, or 0.53%, the S&P 500 futures tacked on 15 points, or 0.72%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 36 points, or 0.83%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,186.60 a troy ounce, compared to $1,188.80 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $46.24 a barrel from $46.28 earlier.