The headline General Business Conditions Index of the NY Fed's Empire State Manufacturing Survey rebounded to -48.5 in May from the all-time low it set at -78.2 in April. This reading beat the market expectation of -63.5.

Key takeaways

"Fifteen percent reported that conditions were better in May than they were in April, while 63 percent reported that conditions had worsened."

"The new orders and shipments indexes also increased, but remained well below zero at -42.4 and -39.0, respectively, pointing to another month of significant declines in orders and shipments."

"After plunging last month, the index for number of employees increased nearly 50 points to -6.1, suggesting that after declining sharply last month, employment levels fell somewhat further in May."

"On the whole, firms expected business conditions to be better in six months. The index for future business conditions rose 22 points to 29.1."

Market reaction 

The US Dollar Index, which touched a session high of 100.49 earlier in the hour, was last seen flat on the day at 100.27.