Philadelphia Fed Preview

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia is set to release the monthly Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey, or Philly Fed, at 10:00 ET today. Consensus is for a reading of 12, with estimates ranging from 9 to 18.9 according to Bloomberg News. Readings above zero indicate economic expansion. The Philly Fed is an index of manufacturing conditions within the Philadelphia Federal Reserve district. It is widely followed as an indicator of manufacturing sector trends nationwide, with a high correlation to the ISM manufacturing index and industrial production. The Philadelphia Fed was the only manufacturing report to show solid strength in June with a headline reading of 15.2, handily beating expectations of 8.0. Although forecasts see less strength this month at a 12 consensus, that still would show very solid growth. Some of the Philly Fed sub-indexes also provide views into commodity prices and other inflationary aspects. The report is viewed closely because it is released early in the month and is available before most other important economic reports and indicators. In front of the release, S&P 500 futures are showing a gain of 0.33 percent at 2111.50.