There was more good news for the US economy today, with figures released by the Federal Reserve showing industrial production rose 0.5pc in July. This is the biggest rise since January and was well above Wall Street expectations of a 0.2pc gain. The rise was mainly due to output at the nation's utilities, which rose 3.9pc in July. Excluding utilities, production increased 0.1pc in the month. Capacity utilisation rose to 74.5pc in July from 74.2pc in June, which was the lowest rate in 20 years.
Output of motor vehicles and parts rose 2.9pc in July after rising 1.7pc in June. Excluding autos, production rose 0.3pc. Production of high-tech equipment rose 0.8pc in the month. Industrial production was revised to flat in June, down slightly from the initial estimate of a 0.1pc increase. //www.fxcentre.com