Investing.com – Both industrial and manufacturing production in the U.S. rose less than expected in November, dampening optimism over the health of the economy, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, the Federal Reserve said that industrial production increased by 0.2% in November from the previous month, compared to expectations for a rise of 0.3% and a gain of 1.2% in October that was revised from an initial 0.9% increase.
Meanwhile, manufacturing production increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month, compared to forecasts for a 0.3% rise and following the 1.4% advance registered in October that was revised up from an initial increase of 1.3%.
The report also showed that the capacity utilization rate, a measure of how fully firms are using their resources, settled at 77.1% in November, below the forecast for a reading of 77.3% and compared to 77.0% a month earlier.
Following the report, EUR/USD trading at 1.1789 from around 1.1792 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.3329 from 1.3337 previously, while USD/JPY traded at 112.30 versus 112.25 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 93.67 compared to 93.64 before the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures gained 72 points, or 0.29%, the S&P 500 futures rose 6 points, or 0.21%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 12 points, or 0.19%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures changed hands at $1,262.00, compared to $1,262.10 prior to the release, while crude oil traded at $57.37, compared to 57.38 ahead of the report.