US: Flash Markit Manufacturing PMI rises to 58.5 in March versus 56.3 exepcted

Activity growth in the US manufacturing sector accelerated in March, according to the preliminary version of IHS Markit's PMI survey. The "flash" headline Manufacturing PMI rose to 58.5 in March from 57.3 a month earlier, above the expected drop to 56.3. Service sector growth was also stronger than expected with flash PMI coming in at 58.9 versus forecast for a drop to 56.0 from 56.5 in February. That meant the composite PMI measure rose to 58.5 from 55.9 last month.