US June industrial production adds to weight of good data - ING

Rob Carnell, Chief International Economist at ING, suggests that a pick up in utilities production helped the US industrial production data edge up, but manufacturing was also robust, and helped by a rebound in autos

Key Quotes 

“It is getting hard to ignore the fact that US activity data is looking quite good, and this is going to make it hard for the Fed to keep dragging its feet on rates.

Industrial production in June rose 0.6% MoM, more than offsetting the 0.3% MoM decline in May. Within the manufacturing sub-group, autos and auto parts accounted for almost all the increase, reversing the decline seen in May.  Utilities production was also strong, concentrated in electricity production, and mining grew for a second consecutive month.

About all the Fed has left to defend its reticence to hike again is the absence of inflation. But as June CPI data suggests, headline inflation will not remain low forever, and a little more evidence of wages growth could abruptly change the outlook for the Fed and rates.”