The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that growth in the US industrial production sector was slowing, but remains strong overall.

On it's index it reported a slight fall to 55.3 from 56.4 in January, with growth still strong in 13 of 20 monitored areas.

Although the markets had expected a higher index figure, overall growth remains strong, and prior issues such as material availabiliy and price competitiveness were becoming less of a problem than before.