The US manufacturing sector grew stronger in June after almost two months of COVID-19 related shutdowns according to the latest ISM Manufacturing Index.
According to the ISM data, the June manufacturing PMI in the US rose by 9.5 percentage points to 52.6pc from 43.1pc in May, indicating a second consecutive month of growth.
The rise in manufacturing PMI was led by increases in production, supplier deliveries, prices and inventories, while customer inventories, order backlogs, new export orders, and imports remained negative during the month, indicating that supply chain issues remain a challenge.
Looking at commodities, aluminum, copper, hot-rolled steel, and ferrous scrap prices trended up during the month while steel product prices declined.
Moreover, primary metals, fabricated metals, and machinery contracted in June, the ISM data indicated. Transportation equipment was the only other industry that also contracted during the month. Primary metals and fabricated metals in fact, reported a decrease in new export orders, which saw an overall increase to 47.6pc in June compared with 39.5pc in May.