The headline General Business Conditions Index of the NY Fed’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey surged from -0.2 in June to 17.2 in July. This reading beat the market expectation of 10 by a wide margin.
Key takeaways
“The new orders index rose fifteen points to 13.9, indicating that orders increased, and the shipments index climbed fifteen points to 18.5, pointing to a solid increase in shipments.”
“The index for number of employees edged up to 0.4, signaling that employment levels were steady.”
“After rising sharply last month to a multi-year high, the index for future business conditions fell eighteen points to 38.4, suggesting that firms remained optimistic about future conditions, though less so than in June.”
Market reaction
The US Dollar Index largely ignored this data and was last seen losing 0.33% on the day at 95.87.