In the US session Unemployment Claims, Philly Fed Manufacturing Index and Industrial Production data was published. In the week ending August 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 232,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 244,000. The 4-week moving average was 240,500, a decrease of 500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 241,000.
Separate report on Philly Fed Manufacturing Index showed that survey’s broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, fell slightly from 19.5 in July to 18.9 in August. The index has been positive for 13 consecutive months (see Chart). Despite the fallback in the general activity index, the demand for manufactured goods, as measured by the survey’s current new orders index, showed notable improvement: The diffusion index increased from 2.1 to 20.4. Firms reported that shipments also continued to rise. The current shipments index increased 17 points to 29.4.
U.S. factory output fell in July, pulled down by tumbling auto production. The Federal Reserve says factory production dropped 0.1 percent last month. Overall industrial production — which adds output by mines and utilities — rose 0.2 percent. Mining output rose 0.5 percent, and utility production rose 1.6 percent. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast industrial production increasing 0.3 percent in July.
There will be no major data releases both from the UK and USA tomorrow, so we can expect a bit steadier session.
