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

The Empire State manufacturing index, gauging overall general business conditions, came in at 2 points in September, compared with 4.8 points last August.

The new order metric fell by 3.2 points to 3.5 in September, while the shipments gauge dropped to 5.8 points in September, from 9.3 points in the preceding month.

Unfilled orders snapped their decline that extended for three months, rising by 7.1 points to - 2.6 points, while the gauge of employment jumped to 9.7 points, departing from the negative territory.

However, six-month outlook index dropped by 12 points to 13.7 during the month.

By 12:39 pm GMT, the US dollar index rose by 0.17% to 98.43.