Investing.com - U.S. factory orders bounced back in June after what had been two consecutive months of decline, sparking relief over the state of the manufacturing sector, responsible for roughly 12% of the American economy, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.S. Census Bureau said factory orders increased by a seasonally adjusted 3.0% in June, compared to expectations for a 2.9% rise.
Factory orders dropped 0.3% in February in an upward revision from what had been a 0.8% decline.
Factory orders excluding transportation declined 0.2% in June, worse than the prior month’s 0.1% drop which was revised up from an initial 0.3% decrease.
Following the report, which was released simultaneously with the ISM non-manufacturing PMI, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1861 from 1.1854 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.3123 from 1.3118 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 110.14 compared to 110.41 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 92.75 compared to 92.82 previously.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets traded lower after the open. The Dow 30 lost 7 points, or 0.03%, the S&P 500 fell 6 points, or 0.24%, while the Nasdaq Composite traded down 19 points, or 0.31%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,267.94 a troy ounce, compared to $1,266.07 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $49.62 a barrel from $49.72 earlier.