Investing.com - The National Federation of Independent Business index of small business optimism rose less-than-expected in July, dampening optimism over the health of the economy, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, National Federation of Independent Business said that NFIB Small Business Optimism rose to 95.7 last month from 95.0 in June. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 96.3 in July.
“On the positive side, expectations for business conditions and outlook for expansion accounted for virtually all of the net gain in July’s Index,” said NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar held on to gains against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.29% to trade at 1.3345.
Meanwhile, U.S. equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow indicated a gain of 0.1%, the S&P 500 pointed to a rise of 0.15%, while the Nasdaq 100 indicated an increase of 0.1%.