Investing.com - The National Federation of Independent Business index of small business optimism rose unexpectedly in October, underlining optimism over the health of the economy, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, National Federation of Independent Business said that NFIB Small Business Optimism increased to 96.1 last month from 95.3 in September. Analysts had expected the index to dip to 95.1 in October.
November’s survey, which will reflect the election outcome, should provide some insight on whether different leadership in Congress has had any effect on small business optimism since 28% of owners blame Washington politics for the country’s economic problems.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.2420 following the release of the data, while GBP/USD was at 1.5861.
Meanwhile, U.S. equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures indicated a gain of 0.15%, the S&P 500 futures pointed to a rise of 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures indicated an increase of 0.2%.