Investing.com - Service sector activity in the U.S. soared in June from what had been the slowest pace in more than two years in the prior month and beat consensus expectations, industry data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) said its non-manufacturing purchasing manager's index (PMI) rose to 56.5 last month from 52.9 in May. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 53.3.
The May reading had been the weakest since February 2014, while June’s number was the highest since October 2015.
On the index, a reading above 50.0 indicates the non-manufacturing sector economy is generally expanding, below 50.0 indicates the sector is contracting.
The Non-Manufacturing Business Activity Index increased to 56.5, 1.4 points higher than the April reading of 55.1. That compared to the consensus estimate of 55.5.
The New Orders Index registered 59.9, 5.7 points higher than the reading of 54.2 in May.
The Employment Index increased 3.0 points to 52.7 from the May reading of 49.7.
The Prices Index slipped 0.1 points from the April reading of 55.6 to 55.5.
Immediately after the report, the dollar strengthened. EUR/USD was trading at 1.1052 from around 1.1068 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.2901 from 1.2925 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 101.06 from 100.81 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 96.43, compared to 96.27 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were still lower after the open. The Dow 30 shed 0.37%, the S&P 500 declined 0.36%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.15%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,367.85 a troy ounce, compared to $1,369.00 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $46.49 a barrel from $46.66 earlier.