The economic activity in the US' manufacturing sector contracted at a softer pace in May than it did in April with the ISM's Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) improving to 43.1 from 41.5.

This reading came in slightly worse than the market expectation of 43.6.

Further details of the publication showed that the Employment Index rose to 32.1 from 27.5 and the New Orders Index edged higher to 31.8 from 27.1.

Assessing the report, "three months into the manufacturing disruption caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, comments from the panel were cautious (two cautious comments for every one optimistic comment) regarding the near-term outlook," said Timothy R. Fiore, Chair of the ISM's Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. "As was the case in April, the PMI indicates a level of manufacturing-sector contraction not seen since April 2009; however, the trajectory improved."

The US Dollar Index largely ignored this data and was last seen losing 0.25% on the day at 98.05.

Source : Fxstreet