The U.S. Commerce Department released wholesale inventories on Thursday. Wholesale inventories in the U.S. rose 0.3% in February, missing expectations for a 0.1% gain, after a 0.4% increase in January. January's figure was revised down from a 0.3% rise.

The increase was driven by lower wholesale sales. Wholesale sales declined by 0.2% in February, driven by a 2.4% fall in sales of durable goods.

Inventories of durable goods increased 0.3% in February, while inventories of non-durable goods climbed by 0.2%.