US industrial production fell by 0.5%, significantly worse than a small dip of 0.1% that was expected. This joins other weak figures reported earlier.
The dollar is now retracing some of the big gains made earlier in the day, as a Fed “tapering†seems a bit more distant than beforehand. The weak data also provides dollar bulls to take profits.
EUR/USD is now struggling with the 1.2880 line it lost earlier. The pair fell as low as 1.2842 after euro-zone GDP numbers disappointed. USD/JPY is around 102.13 after already climbing above 102.70 earlier. Technical analysis: USD/JPY Advances Bullish Trend but Due for Correction.
The capacity utilization rate dropped from 78.5 to 77.8%, short of 77.4% that was predicted.
Earlier, US indicators disappointed: The Empire State Manufacturing Index dropped to -1.4, lower than +3.6 that was expected and 3.1 last time. The negative number is certainly worrying.
Also the Producer Price Index fell by 0.7%, showing that inflation remains low. A drop of 0.7% was predicted. Core PPI rose by 0.1%, exactly as expected.
AUD/USD also managed to recover, regaining the 0.99 level. Some expect AUD/USD to fall as low as 0.60.
