Talking Points:
- The US dollar received a favorable boost from a strong preliminary US manufacturing PMI figure
- The 54.0 reading beat the 52.9 forecast and climbed from the 53.1 previous for the highest reading in five-months
- Markit’s report indicated an accelerated and strong expansion of US production levels
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The US dollar extended its climb following the release of the October preliminary Markit US Manufacturing PMI figure. The flash activity reading came in at 54, a higher reading than the 52.9 expected via the economists surveyed by Bloomberg. It was also a five-month high for the series with a marked contrast to some of the other manufacturing reports that have been released recently.
Among comparable US readings for the sector, regional activity measures from the Federal Reserve districts for New York, Kansas City and Philadelphia all reported disappointing outcomes – both relative to expectations and net contractions. Globally, the US PMI joins Japan’s better-than-expected print. However, the Eurozone’s unchanged figure and China’s pained manufacturing sector show the ‘global headwinds’ that the Fed and IMF have referred to recently.
In the few details of the flash reading there were improvements in both output and new orders volumes during October. The orders component rose to 55.5 from 54.7 for the highest reading in seven months. The employment measure similarly accelerated. Additionally, input costs fell for the second month in a row. Volume of new work received by US manufactures saw the steepest rise in seven months.
