- Mumbai mourns Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- China opens $71 bn 'swap facility' to boost markets
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
- China's central bank says opens up $70.6 bn in liquidity to boost market
- Youth facing unprecedented wave of violence, UN envoy warns
- 'A casino in every kitchen': Brazil's online gambling craze
- Nobel chemistry winner sees engineered proteins solving tough problems
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Nobel winners hope protein work will spur 'incredible' breakthroughs
- What are proteins again? Nobel-winning chemistry explained
- AI steps into science limelight with Nobel wins
- Overshooting 1.5C risks 'irreversible' climate impact: study
- Demis Hassabis, from chess prodigy to Nobel-winning AI pioneer
- Global stocks diverge as Chinese shares tumble
- Time runs out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Chad issues warning ahead of more devastating floods
- Creator's death no bar to new 'Dragon Ball' products
- Chinese stocks tumble on lack of fresh stimulus
- Trio wins chemistry Nobel for protein design, prediction
- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
- Neural networks, machine learning? Nobel-winning AI science explained
- Boeing delivers 27 MAX jets in September despite strike
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
US manufacturing activity contracts for third month: survey
Activity in the US manufacturing sector shrank for a third straight month in January, hovering at the lowest levels since May 2020 as new orders and production slumped, according to survey data released Wednesday.
The gloomy figure comes as demand softens on the back of the central bank's rapid interest rate hikes.
The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) manufacturing index slipped one percentage point to 47.4 percent in January, from 48.4 percent in December.
This was a touch below analyst expectations and also lower than the 50 percent threshold indicating growth in the sector.
"The January composite index reading reflects companies slowing outputs to better match demand in the first half of 2023 and prepare for growth in the second half of the year," said ISM manufacturing survey chair Timothy Fiore in a statement.
In recent months, the manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index has been at its lowest levels since the pandemic recovery began.
In January, the new orders index and production index remained in contraction, both retreating from December's readings, as demand eased, the report said.
But companies "are indicating that they are not going to substantially reduce head counts as they are positive about the second half of the year," Fiore added.
Of the six biggest manufacturing industries, only one -- transportation equipment -- registered growth in January, said ISM.
"Business is still strong, but we have begun to see softening in some pricing, and lead times seem to be improving," said a respondent in the computer and electronic products sector.
Another respondent in the chemical products sector added that "there have been a lot fewer supply disruptions so far this year."
US central bankers are due to conclude a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, at the end of which analysts expect a further but smaller interest rate hike.
St.Ch.Baker--CPN