Investing.com - Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia-region in November grew for the first time in three months, supporting the case for a U.S. interest rate hike next month, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index improved to 1.9 this month from October's reading of -4.5. Analysts had expected the index to rise to -1.0 in November.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates improving conditions, below indicates worsening conditions.
Indexes for new orders and shipments remained negative, although they increased from lower readings in October.
Firms reported slight increases in overall employment this month but declines in average work hours.
Manufactured goods prices were near steady. The survey’s future indicators showed improvement. Only a small percentage of firms expect a downturn in business activity over the next six months.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.0678 from around 1.0675 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5265 from 1.5267 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 123.17 from 123.16 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 99.47, compared to 99.45 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 21 points, or 0.12%, at the open, the S&P 500 futures indicated a rise 5 points, or 0.24%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures increased 13 points, or 0.27%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,068.80 a troy ounce, compared to $1,069.50 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $41.56 a barrel from $41.55 earlier.