Investing.com - Industrial production in the U.S. fell more than expected in February, 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 0.5% last month, worse than expectations for a decline of 0.2%.
Industrial production rose by 0.8% in January, whose figure was revised down from a previously reported increase of 0.9%.
Meanwhile, manufacturing production rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month, above forecasts for a 0.1% increase and following a gain of 0.5% in January.
The report also showed that the capacity utilization rate, a measure of how fully firms are using their resources, fell to 76.7% in February from 77.1% a month earlier, below expectations for 76.9%.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1066 from around 1.1063 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.4059 from 1.4055 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 113.60 from 113.68 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 97.04, compared to 97.05 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open. The Dow futures dipped 35 points, or 0.2%, the S&P 500 futures lost 7 points, or 0.34%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures slumped 10 points, or 0.22%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,230.80 a troy ounce, compared to $1,230.40 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $37.19 a barrel from $37.14 earlier.