US DATA REACT: State St analyst John Herrmann says Chicago PM index
was not as good as the headline 62.6 in Feb: “improvement was NOT led
by the survey’s key components of new orders (off 4.2 points), and
employment (off 6.8 points). The production/shipments gauge edged lower,
as well, of 1.4 points.” Instead, the gain was in order backlogs, which
is not used in ISM. So it suggests a flat to lower mfg ISM.