• US S&P Global Manufacturing PMI and Services PMI both declined slightly in February.
• US Dollar Index clings to small daily gains near 98.00.

Business activity in the US private sector expanded at a slightly softer pace in February than in January, with the S&P Global's preliminary Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) edging lower to 52.3 from 53.

In this period, the Manufacturing PMI declined to 51.2 from 52.4, while the Services PMI retreated to 52.3 from 52.7. Both of these figures came in slightly below analysts' estimates.

"A combination of weakened demand, high prices, and adverse weather colluded to dampened business activity in February, resulting in the slowest expansion of output for ten months," said Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

"Customer demand growth has softened, with orders even falling in factories, curbing jobs growth to a crawl across both manufacturing and services," Williamson added.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index showed no immediate reaction to this report and was last seen rising 0.12% on the day at 97.95.