The US ISM manufacturing index has surprisingly fallen in April to 60.7 from 64.7 – the consensus was 65 and we had penciled in something a little higher given the readings from the regional surveys. From this report it is clear that supply issues, centered on the global semi-conductor chip shortage, are constraining output growth. Auto makers have been very vocal about the difficulties this has presented and have already indicated that output could fall despite buoyant demand. Other industries are also going to be impacted and it will have knock-on effects for companies throughout the supply chains – if you can’t ... (full story)