Investing.com - Industrial production in the U.S. fell for the fourth straight month in November, dampening optimism over the health of the economy, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the Federal Reserve said that industrial production decreased by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% last month, disappointing expectations for a decline of 0.1%. Industrial production fell by 0.4% in September, whose figure was revised down from a previously reported fall of 0.2%.
Meanwhile, manufacturing production was flat last month, below forecasts for a 0.1% increase and following a gain of 0.3% in October.
The report also showed that the capacity utilization rate, a measure of how fully firms are using their resources, dipped to 77.0% in November from 77.5% a month earlier, missing expectations for 77.4%.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.0937 from around 1.0939 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5030 from 1.5032 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 121.86 from 121.88 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 98.20, compared to 98.18 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, the outlook for U.S. equity markets was upbeat. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 102 points, or 0.59%, at the open, the S&P 500 futures indicated a rise 11 points, or 0.53%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures increased 24 points, or 0.51%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,073.60 a troy ounce, compared to $1,073.50 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $36.83 a barrel from $36.86 earlier.