US manufacturing slump not as bad as expected after government shutdown
US manufacturing orders didn't suffer too much in October, according to purchasing managers' index (PMI) data from Markit. The headline indicator of order book growth has nonetheless dropped to its lowest level since October 2012.
Manufacturing PMI dropped from 52.8 to 51.8. Analysts had expected a drop to 51.1. Any number above 50 implies an expansion.
Now we'll wait for another set of manufacturing PMI data – out at 2.00pm. October's ISM manufacturing PMI is expected to fall from 56.2 to 55.0.