Investing.com - The New York Federal Reserve’s index of manufacturing conditions kicked off 2018 with a worse-than-expected expansion, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that its general business conditions index fell to 17.70 this month from a reading of 19.60 in December which was revised from an initial reading of 18.00. Analysts had expected the index to hold steady at 18.00 in January.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates improving conditions, below indicates worsening conditions.
The Empire State index is of interest to traders primarily because it is seen as an early forecast of the national Institute for Supply Management factory survey.
The New York Fed also noted that the new orders index and the shipments index both showed ongoing growth, although at a slower pace than in December.
Unfilled orders and delivery times increased slightly, and inventory levels were higher, the report indicated.
Meanwhile, labor market conditions pointed to a modest increase in employment and steady workweeks, while both input prices and selling prices increased at a faster pace than last month.
“Firms remained very optimistic about future business conditions, and capital spending plans were robust,” the report concluded.
After the report, EUR/USD was trading at 1.2225 from around 1.2224 ahead of the release, GBP/USD was at 1.3758 from 1.3754 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 110.73 from 110.77 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 90.44, compared to 90.46 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures jumped 209 points, or 0.81%, the S&P 500 futures gained 12 points, or 0.41%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 35 points, or 0.51%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,334.80 a troy ounce, compared to $1,334.40 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $63.97 a barrel from $64.08 earlier.