Update: ISM had issues with seasonal adjustments and it corrected the number twice: once to 56 and then to 55.4 points. Quite a disappointment from the US manufacturing sector: the score of 53.2 points represents slower growth. The ISM manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for May was expected to advance from 54.9 points in April to 55.7. The employment component serves as an indicator towards the Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday. The employment index dropped from 54.7 to only 51.9 points. New orders slid from 55.1 to 53.3. After the correction, the employment component stands at 52.8 points, new orders at 56.9 (better than last month). After the double correction, the figure is certainly within expectations.
Towards the publication, the US dollar advanced against the yen, with USD/JPY rising above 102.20 and remained stable against the euro (just above 1.36) and the pound (around 1.6750). The dollar is weaker against the yen. EUR/USD is back up to 1.3620 and GBP/USD is ticking up to 1.6758.
Analysis:Â USD/JPY and Markit emerge as winners from ISM mess up
At the same time, the US also released construction spending numbers for April which grew by only 0.2% against 0.8% expected. The sliver lining is that this came on top of a better figure for March: +0.6% against 0.2% initially reported.
While the manufacturing sector is far smaller than the services one, the indicator has an influence on markets.
Earlier, Markit’s final manufacturing PMI for May saw an upwards revision from 56.2 to 56.4 points. It does not carry the same weight as ISM, but it is gaining traction.
The upcoming ECB meeting is stealing part of the show from the regular hype around the NFP. The last critical release towards the Draghi show is the euro-zone’s inflation numbers. See how to trade the EZ CPI with EURUSD.
