The US manufacturing sector contracted in December, seeing its weakest monthly output since April 2003, a study says.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of factory activity fell to 47.7 in December from November's figure of 50.8.
A reading less than 50 indicates a fall in output, and December's figure was also worse than forecasts of 50.4.
The report also said that prices had risen for the third consecutive month, as inflationary pressures remain.
"Of all the major economic indicators this is first unambiguously weak reading," said Brian Gendreau from ING Investment Management in New York.
"There was a strong reaction in stocks, and I think this is a sufficiently weak reading to generate the concern about recession the market is expressing."
Read Complete Story
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment