Breaking: ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI drops to 52.5 in March vs. 44 expected

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

The business activity in the US' service sector continued to expand in March with the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) Non-Manufacturing PMI coming in at 52.5. Although this reading came in worse than February's print of 57.3, it beat the market expectation of 44.

The underlying details of the report revealed that the New Orders Index dropped to 52.9 from 63.1, the Employment Index fell to 47 from 55.6 and the Prices Paid Index edged lower to 50 from 50.8.

"The non-manufacturing sector composite index indicates growth in March; however, the extreme slowing of supplier deliveries weighted heavily in the calculation," the ISM explained in its press release. "The other three subindexes that contribute to the NMI contracted strongly in March. Respondents are concerned about the coronavirus impact on the supply chain, operational capacity, human resources and finances, as well as the ramifications for the overall economy.”

Market reaction

Major currency pairs largely ignored this data. As of writing, the EUR/USD pair was down 0.6% on the day at 1.0790, the USD/JPY pair was up 0.6% on the day at 108.57 and the GBP/USD pair was erasing 1.07% at 1.2260.

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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