Investing.com - Industrial production in the U.S. bounced back in June from the prior month’s decline, bolstering optimism over the health of the economy, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, the Federal Reserve said that industrial production increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% last month, better than expectations for a gain of 0.2%.
Industrial production dropped by 0.3% in May, whose figure was revised from a previously reported decrease of 0.4%.
Meanwhile, manufacturing production rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% last month, compared to forecasts for a 0.2% gain and following a decline of 0.3% in May, revised from an initial decline of 0.4%.
The report also showed that the capacity utilization rate, a measure of how fully firms are using their resources, rose to 75.4% in June from 74.9% a month earlier.
Analysts had expected a smaller increase to 75.0%.
After the report, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1096 from around 1.1112 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.3323 from 1.3336 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 105.97 from 106.01 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 96.31, compared to 96.20 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open. The Dow futures gained 30 points, or 0.16%, the S&P 500 futures advanced 4 points, or 0.16%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures rose 6 points, or 0.13%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,324.35 a troy ounce, compared to $1,329.95 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $46.05 a barrel from $46.14 earlier.