US services PMI downwardly revised in January
S&P Global's US services purchasing managers' index came in at 52.5 in January, down from a preliminary reading of 52.9 but still its strongest reading in seven months.
New orders increased on the back of improved demand conditions in the domestic market and the biggest rise in new export orders since August.
US firms also expressed further optimism regarding the outlook for output over the coming twelve months and continued to increase headcount - a move that was also partly in response to renewed pressure on capacity as backlogs expanded for the first time in seven months.
Services providers also raised output charges at the slowest pace since June 2020, aided by slower growth of input costs. Service sector input prices rose at the second-slowest rate since October 2020.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com