Bigger-than-expected gain in ISM factory sector PMI for March

US manufacturing sector activity picked up a tad more than envisaged last month, according to the results of the most widely-followed gauge of conditions in the sector.

The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing sector Purchasing Managers' Index rose from a reading of 54.2 for February to 55.3 in March, on the back of gains in all the main subindices.

Economists had forecast a reading of 54.3.

Significantly, the key gauge tracking the new orders received by firms improved by 1.9 points from he month before to reach 57.4, with a separate sub-index that tracks output levels increasing from a reading of 54.8 to 55.8.

Employment also grew, with the corresponding sub-index jumping by 5.2 points to 57.5 and another linked to the prices paid by companies up by 4.9 points to 54.3.

A sub-index for companies' order backlogs on the other hand dipped by 1.9 points to 50.4, another referencing new export orders slipped by 1.1 points to 51.7 and that for imports by 4.2 points to 51.1.

According to the ISM, purchasing managers in the textile, Transportation Equipment, Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products, Nonmetallic Mineral Products and Furniture & Related Products continued to se "strong" trading.

Meanwhile, those in Wood Products and from the Plastics and Rubber Products space were waiting for a resolution of the US-China trade war.