Investing.com - Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia-region registered a surprise deterioration in July, underlining concern 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 fell to -2.9 this month from June’s reading of 4.7. Analysts had expected the index to improve to 5.0 in July.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates improving conditions, below indicates worsening conditions.
With regard to future activity in the sector, new orders bounced back with a reading of 11.8, compared to the Junes's decline of 3.0.
The employment index showed a drop of 1.6 in July, which was an improvement when compared to a prior decline of 10.9.
Keeping in mind that the weekly jobless claims were released simultaneously and that European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi kicked off a press conference at the same time, EUR/USD traded at 1.1033, compared to 1.1019 prior to the publication, GBP/USD was at 1.3187 from 1.3190 ahead of the release of the data, while USD/JPY traded at 106.20 versus 106.17 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 96.94, compared to 97.04 before the release.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a mixed open. The Dow futures pointed to a drop of 27 points, or 0.14%, the S&P 500 futures indicated a decline of 2 points, or 0.10%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures gained 3 points, or 0.05%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,321.05 a troy ounce, compared to $1,321.65 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $45.69 a barrel from $45.52 earlier.