Manufacturing growth in the US almost matched growth forecasts, but slightly weaker-than-expected figures failed to support the Greenback significantly. Right after the data were released, the USD/JPY currency pair went to the 110.145 area, or 0.01% higher, but paired gains after that. The Institute for Supply Management stated that its Manufacturing Activity Index came in at 56.3 in July, compared with 57.8 registered in the prior month, though 15 out of 18 industries still indicated expansion. Although production, employment and new orders rose at a slightly weaker pace, they kept pointing to stable economic growth in the US. In addition, experts suggested that some weakness in recent reports is unlikely to affect the normalisation of the Fed’s monetary policy.
