US Industrial Production: Poor end of the first quarter – Wells Fargo

By FXStreet According to analysts from Wells Fargo, today’s industrial production data showed that it ended the first quarter on a poor note.

Key Quotes:

“Industrial production ended what was already shaping up to be a weak quarter on a particularly poor note. Production fell 0.6 percent in March, worse than even our below-consensus expectation for a 0.3 percent decline.”

“Some weakness was to be expected in light of the ongoing headwinds on the domestic energy sector.”

“Adding support to the view that the worst may be over for the manufacturing sector was an increase in the Empire State Manufacturing Index reported earlier this morning. The first of the April purchasing managers indices rose nearly nine points to its highest level in more than a year.”

“That said, even as the most significant headwinds of the past year are easing, there are few tailwinds out there for the factory sector. The modest rebound in commodity prices has offered some support to producers, but prices are not expected to climb meaningfully higher for some time. And while the dollar has given back some ground in recent months, it still sits at a relatively strong level. With global growth still sluggish, we believe that growth in …read more

Source:: FX Street