Investing.com - Industrial production in the U.S. increased more than expected in July, bolstering optimism over the health of the economy, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the Federal Reserve said that industrial production increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.7% last month, better than expectations for a gain of 0.3%.
Industrial production rose by 0.4% in June, whose figure was revised from a previously reported advance of 0.6%.
Meanwhile, manufacturing production rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.5% last month, compared to forecasts for a 0.3% gain and following a gain of 0.3% in June that was revised from an initial 0.4% increase.
The report also showed that the capacity utilization rate, a measure of how fully firms are using their resources, rose to 75.9% in July from 75.4% a month earlier.
Analysts had expected a smaller increase to 75.6%.
After the report, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1263 from around 1.1280 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.2968 from 1.2978 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 100.19 from 99.99 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 94.89, compared to 94.73 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open. The Dow futures fell 39 points, or 0.21%, the S&P 500 futures lost 5 points, or 0.22%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 8 points, or 0.17%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,349.25 a troy ounce, compared to $1,352.65 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $45.98 a barrel from $46.81 earlier.