Mubasher: US business inventories grew by 0.3% during May at $2.036 trillion on a seasonally adjusted basis, compared with $2.029 trillion in April, according to official figures.

On an annualised basis, business inventories rose by 1.5% last May, the US Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said.

The collective value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments rose slightly by 0.2% to $1.461 trillion.

The ratio of overall inventories to sales in May was 1.39, unchanged from in the previous month, while it came slightly higher than the ratio of 1.34 in the same month of the previous year.

By 2:03 pm GMT, the dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of six major peers, rose by 0.38% to 97.30