Mubasher: US manufacturing business activity saw slower growth in August, according to New York Federal Reserve Bank’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey.

The Empire State manufacturing index, gauging overall general business conditions, was barely changed 4.8 points in August.

The new order metric gained in August, after declining over the preceding two months departing the negative territory at 6.7, while the shipments gauge jumped to 9.3 points.

Unfilled orders sustained their decline for the third month in a row at negative 9.7 points, while the index of employment recovered to negative 1.6.

However, six-month outlook index dropped to 25.7 during the month, compared with 30.8.

By 12:58 pm GMT, the US dollar index ticked up by 0.05% to 97.94.