Investing.com - Industrial production in the U.S. fell more than expected in August, dampening optimism over the health of the economy, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Federal Reserve said that industrial production decreased by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% last month, worse than expectations for a drop of 0.3%.
Industrial production rose by 0.6% in July, whose figure was revised down from a previously reported advance of 0.7%.
Meanwhile, manufacturing production declined by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% last month, compared to forecasts for a 0.3% drop and following a gain of 0.4% in July that was also revised down from an initial 0.7% increase.
The report also showed that the capacity utilization rate, a measure of how fully firms are using their resources, decreased to 75.5% in August from 75.9% a month earlier.
Analysts had expected a smaller decline to 75.7%.
After the report, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1248 from around 1.1242 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.3196 from 1.3201 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 102.55 from 102.60 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 95.38, compared to 95.43 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open. The Dow futures gained 15 points, or 0.08%, the S&P 500 futures advanced 1 points, or 0.04%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures rose 11 points, or 0.24%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,321.05 a troy ounce, compared to $1,321.25 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $43.93 a barrel from $43.85 earlier.