Industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in February. The increase was smaller than expected one by 0.3%. Details of the report were weak, especially the downward revision to output in January to negative 0.3% from the prior estimate of a 0.2% gain.
In February, manufacturing output dropped 0.2%, the third straight monthly decline. Auto and auto part manufacturing fell 3%. Utilities output jumped 7.3% on cold weather in the month. Mining output dropped 2.5% on continued weakness in oil and gas well drilling. Capacity utilization held dipped to 78.9% from, 79.1%, well below the 79.6% consensus.
Data did not have any major impact on the markets. Euro is currently being traded around 1.0550 level, Sterling is slightly below 1.48 handle, while Aussie is few points above 0.7640 area.