U.S. manufacturing growth regains momentum in January, flash PMI index rises to 54.9

U.S. manufacturing growth regained momentum at the beginning of 2019. The latest seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Flash manufacturing PMI rose to 54.9 in January from December’s 53.8. The rebound in overall business conditions was driven by the most rapid growth in production since May 2018. New orders, employment and stocks of purchases also rose at a more rapid rates in January.

Survey respondents generally cited strong domestic demand, which more than countered a deceleration in export sales growth to its softest for three months. Furthermore, latest data showed that manufacturers are more confident about the 12-month business outlook than at any time since May 2018. Stretched supply chains continued to be a challenge for manufacturers, with vendor lead-times lengthening for the 25th consecutive month in January.

Solid demand for inputs and higher imported raw materials costs related to trade tariffs led to a solid rise in input prices and another strong rise in factory gate charges throughout the manufacturing sector.

At 17:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was highly bullish at 106.945 more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex