U.S. industrial sector’s growth falls in April, basic materials sector sees renewed rise in output

U.S. April Sector PMI data hinted at a deceleration in the nation’s industrial output growth. The industrials sector, which indicates construction material and machinery equipment manufacturers, and commercial and professional service providers, dropped down the rankings table and recorded just a marginal growth in production. The upturn was the slowest since August 2016.

Similarly, consumer goods companies saw a more subdued rise in output in April. The pace of rise was widely consistent with that observed in March and strong overall, but dropped to a 13-month low. The consumer services, financials and healthcare sectors also recorded softer rises in business activity. The former showed the slowest rise in output since last September. Although still second in the rankings table, healthcare companies hinted at a marked deceleration after two marked monthly growths.

Meanwhile, the basic materials sector saw a renewed rise in output in April, in contrast to back-to-back contractions recorded in February and March. Finally, the technology sector saw the pace of growth output recovering from March’s recent low. Overall, the upturn was strong.

At 14:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was neutral at 6.21782 more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex