Investing.com - Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia-region registered an stronger than expected expansion in June after two consecutive months of contraction, bolstering optimism over the health of the economy, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index registered 4.7 this month after May’s contraction of -1.8.
Analysts had expected the index to return to expansion with a reading of only 1.1 in June.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates improving conditions, below indicates worsening conditions.
However, with regard to future activity in the sector, new orders further deteriorated with a reading of -3.0, compared to the May’s decline of 1.9 and analyst expectations for the subindex to return to expansion with a reading of 1.0.
The employment index also showed a drop of 10.9 in June, much worse than the prior decline of 3.3.
Keeping in mind that the weekly jobless claims and May inflation data were released simultaneously, EUR/USD traded at 1.1183, compared to 1.1168 prior to the publication, GBP/USD was at 1.4131 from 1.4125 ahead of the release of the data, while USD/JPY traded at 104.29 versus 104.42 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 95.06, compared to 95.16 before the release.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open. The Dow futures pointed to a drop of 80 points, or 0.45%, the S&P 500 futures indicated a decline of 10 points, or 0.50%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures fell 24 points, or 0.54%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,313.65 a troy ounce, compared to $1,311.05 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $47.10 a barrel from $47.17 earlier.