Mubasher: The Philadelphia Federal Reserve on Thursday said that its gauge on the US Mid-Atlantic business activity sustained its expansion in August, but at a slower pace.

The regional Fed bank’s barometer decline to 16.8 in August, compared with a reading of 22 in July.

A reading above zero indicates that the region’s business activity is picking up.

The August reading masked divergence in the sub-indices gauging current shipments and new orders.

By 12:40 pm GMT, the US dollar index, which gauges the greenback against six major peers, stabilised at 97.99.