US: Markit Services PMI improves to 59.8 (final) in February vs. 58.9 expected

• Markit Services PMI in US continued to rise at a strong pace in February.
• US Dollar Index stays in the positive territory near 91.00.

The economic activity in the US' service sector expanded at a stronger pace in February than it did in January with the IHS Markit's Services PMI rising to 59.8 (final) from 58.3. This reading came in better than the market expectation and the flash estimate of 58.9.

Further details of the publication revealed that the Composite PMI improved to 59.5 from 58.7.

Key takeaways

"US business activity is growing at the fastest rate for six-and-a-half years, setting the economy up for a strong start to 2021."

"Even some hard-hit consumer-facing sectors are enjoying some loosening of restrictions or adapting to life with the virus."

 "A wide variety of costs are rising, however, putting additional pressure on companies across the board."

"Some of these higher costs will inevitably prove transitory as pandemic-related disruptions to supply start to ease but it remains unclear how long these price pressures will persist for due to uncertainties over the duration of social distancing requirements and the strength of demand over the coming months."

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index largely ignored this report and was last seen gaining 0.24% on the day at 91.00.