U.S. industrial production saw a strong rise in November. The details indicate towards a deceleration of underlying activity in the manufacturing component. The headline index rose 0.6 percent sequentially in the month after a downwardly revised 0.2 percent fall in October. The November top-line reading was slightly stronger than consensus expectations of 0.3 percent. The rise was mainly driven by the utilities category, where production rose 3.3 percent sequentially because of the impacts of unusually cold weather on natural gas and electricity demand, and by a 1.7 percent rise in the mining component, which held up in spite of recent sharp falls in the oil price, noted Barclays in a research report.
Within manufacturing segment, production moved sideways in November, consistent with consensus expectations of 0.3 percent and on the heels of a downwardly revised 0.1 percent fall in October. The latest figures imply that the combined impacts of tariffs on key imported manufacturing inputs, the strengthened dollar, and slowing investment demand might be a drag on manufacturing production.
Stripping the 0.3 percent sequential rise in the volatile motor vehicles and parts category, manufacturing registered its third straight tepid reading. Smoothing through the monthly volatility, production in manufacturing excluding motor vehicles rose 0.4 percent 3m saar in November, compared with a 4.4 percent 3m saar rise in August.
Manufacturing utilization in the manufacturing sector came in at 75.7 percent in September, slightly below the recent months’ figures and still slightly short of its 78.3% average from 1972 to 2017.
At 17:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was slightly bullish at 61.841. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex
