The manufacturing sector appears to be gaining strength this month, according to Monday reports on the manufacturing sector.
The Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing index reached the highest level since 2004 with a reading of 60.8. Economists expected it to rise to just 58.1.
Aaron Kohli of BMO Capital Markets writes:
New Orders were up as well at 64.6 versus an August read of 60.3 with the employment component up to 60.3. The ISM print was very robust overall with inventories and imports registering the only drops in the survey and every other component up. Construction spending for August was slightly higher than expected at +0.5% MoM, but that was more than offset by a revision in July’s print to -1.2% from -0.6%. Residential and nonresidential construction were both up 0.5% for the month. Treasuries are giving up some earlier gains on the releases, but the markets are trading mainly on the political headlines rather than the data.
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