Analysts at Danske Bank provide a brief overview of Wednesday's release of the US ISM Services PMI, which showed that business activity unexpectedly picked up last month and raised hopes for a soft landing.

Key Quotes:

“Stronger-than-expected ISM services for August reaffirmed the US outperformance narrative, adding broad support to the USD. US ISM services for August printed at 54.5, the highest reading since February with business activity, price pressures and employment growth picking up. Consensus was anticipating ISM Services to signal weakening growth, but the surprising pick-up was broad-based across different sub-indices, with both current and future activity indicators signalling accelerating growth. Markets reacted by sending 2-year US Treasury yield 4-5bp higher and US stocks lower. While we highlight the volatility in ISM figures, we note that it is a clear signal that the US is not on the brink of a recession at least for now.”