Investing.com – Gross domestic product (GDP) in the U.S. showed a larger-than-expected expansion in the third quarter, bolstering optimism over the state of the world’s largest economy, according to official preliminary data released on Friday.
In a report, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said that GDP registered a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.0% growth in the three month period from July to September, down just slightly from the 3.1% expansion registered in the second quarter of 2017.
Analysts had estimated GDP growth to ease to 2.5% as they expected the data to be hard hit by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Furthermore, real consumer spending increased by 2.4% in the third quarter, beating expectations for a 2.2% advance, although lower than the prior quarter’s 3.3% advance.
The GDP price index for its part rose 2.1% in the third quarter, compared to the prior reading of a 1.0% increase and forecasts for a 1.8% gain.
Immediately after the report, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1597 from around 1.1604 ahead of the publication; GBP/USD was at 1.3084 from 1.3091 earlier; while USD/JPY was at 114.32 from 114.17 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 94.98, compared to 94.91 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures rose 10 points, or 0.04%, the S&P 500 futures gained 4 points, or 0.17%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 43 points, or 0.71%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,267.61 a troy ounce, compared to $1,268.72 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $52.41 a barrel from $52.38 earlier.