Investing.com – Industrial and manufacturing production in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in August, dampening optimism over the health of the economy, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, the Federal Reserve said that industrial production decreased by 0.9% from the previous month, below expectations for a 0.1% rise and compared to a gain of 0.4% in July that was revised from an initial 0.2% advance.
Meanwhile, manufacturing production decreased by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% last month, missing forecasts for a 0.3% rise and following the 0.1% drop registered in July.
The report also showed that the capacity utilization rate, a measure of how fully firms are using their resources, fell to 76.1% in August, worse than the forecast for a reading of 76.8%.
The prior month was revised upwards to 76.9% from 76.7%.
Following the report, EUR/USD trading at 1.1983 from around 1.1968 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.3576 from 1.3565 previously, while USD/JPY traded at 110.70 versus 110.75 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 91.62 compared to 91.71 before the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly lower open. The Dow futures fell 18 points, or 0.08%, the S&P 500 futures lost 4 points, or 0.18%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 7 points, or 0.12%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures exchanged hands at $1,330.82, compared to $1,331.90 prior to the release, while crude oil was unchanged at $49.84.