Instant View: U.S. service sector picks up in September - ISM

The pace of growth in the vast U.S. services sector picked up in September as new orders accelerated, though employment cooled, an industry report showed on Wednesday.

COMMENTS:

WILLIAM LARKIN, FIXED INCOME PORTFOLIO MANAGER, CABOT MONEY MANAGEMENT, SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS

"It indicates a little bit of growth. This is good information ahead of the monthly employment report. It looks more like things are heading in the right direction. It is this new reality -- we don't have robust growth, we just have very moderate growth."

STEPHEN STANLEY, CHIEF ECONOMIST, PIERPONT SECURITIES, STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT

"It's in line with the factory report on Monday. We have seen a few reports now that seem to show things might have picked up in September, although it's not a strong improvement. Perhaps people are feeling better even though businesses are not. We have not broken out of the 1 to 2 percent growth range for this year."

MARKET REACTION:

STOCKS: U.S. stocks slipped.

(Americas Economics and Markets Desk; +1-646 223-6300)