US: Industrial Production expands by 1.6% in December vs. 0.4% expected

• Industrial Production in the US rose at a stronger pace than expected in December.
• US Dollar Index posts strong daily gains above 90.50 after the data.

Industrial Production in the United States expanded by 1.6% on a monthly basis in December, the US Federal Reserve reported on Tuesday. This print followed November's increase of 0.5% (revised from 0.4%) and came in better than the market expectation of 0.4%.

Additional takeaways

"For the fourth quarter as a whole, total industrial production rose at an annual rate of 8.4%."

"Capacity utilization for the industrial sector rose 1.1 percentage points in December to 74.5%, a rate that is 5.3 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2019) average."

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index continues to edge higher after this data and was last seen gaining 0.38% on a daily basis at 90.58.