ISM firms more than expected, to 40.1

ISM did indeed bounce back, rising to 40.1 from 36.3 in April. The economy seems to have reverted to just a recession after falling into near-depression after the Lehman, AIG, TARP fiascoes of the fall.The index is back to its September levels, just before those events sent sentiment, the markets and ultimately the economy into a tailspin.

Factory orders dipped 0.9% in March, a bit weaker than expected.

Markets are little moved despite the upbeat data with EUR/USD at 1.3275 and USD/JPY at 99.38.