The US service sector last month continued its recovery from the pandemic, according to an industry survey released Wednesday, but the pace slowed slightly as companies faced supply chain complications.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its service sector index dipped to 62.7 percent in April, below expectations and one percentage point lower than March.

But the index remained well above the 50-percent level indicating expansion.

The survey was good news for the sector, which was the hardest-hit by business restrictions that began in March 2020.

Those measures are now being rolled back across the United States as vaccinations become widespread, and Americans increasingly venture out to travel, shop and dine.

However, the economic reopening is not going completely smoothly, with supply chains struggling to deal with resurgent demand for raw materials and finished products, challenges the services sector is not immune to, ISM said.

“Production-capacity constraints, material shortages, weather and challenges in logistics and human resources continue to affect deliveries, which has resulted in a reduction of inventories,” the survey’s chair Anthony Nieves said in a statement.

ISM reported a more than five point increase in the supplier deliveries index indicating slower deliveries, as well as 2.8-point increase in prices to 76.8 percent.

However, employment rose almost two points to 58.8 percent as the economy reopens, spurring companies to bring employees back.

Oren Klachkin of Oxford Economics said the supply chain issues may drag on growth temporarily, but the sector was poised for a sustained rebound in the months to come. “The underlying details stayed positive overall, as business activity and new orders remained firmly in expansion territory and the employment recovery gained momentum,” he said.

Global equities rebounded Wednesday as investors focused on bright earnings and data pointing to an economic recovery, narrowly lifting the Dow to a new record high.

London rose 1.7 percent during the session on the strength of miners to reach its highest close since the Covid-19 pandemic first hit Europe just over 14 months ago.

Frankfurt rose 2.1 percent and Paris added 1.4 percent as a survey said April saw the fastest growth for Eurozone companies in nine months, sparking hope that the bloc would exit a double-dip recession.

“Having seen large falls yesterday, markets appear to have recovered some of their mojo, rebounding strongly today,” commented Michael Hewson of CMC Markets.

On Wall Street, payroll services firm ADP released data before markets opened showing strong US private sector hiring last month, though the economy remains short millions of jobs.

The Institute for Supply Management also reported the US services sector was bouncing back strongly in April.

The data offer further evidence of an accelerating economic recovery, although analysts say markets continue to fear the rebound will cause prices to rise.

That reticence explains why the Nasdaq fell again, even as the Dow climbed 0.3 percent to finish at a fresh all-time high.

The weakness in the tech sector is among the indicators that “suggest that the near-term markets can remain choppy,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.

Among individual companies, General Motors surged 4.1 percent after reporting higher first-quarter profits and reaffirming its full-year outlook Wednesday, despite a global shortage of semiconductors that has constrained auto manufacturing.

Moderna fell 6.2 percent and Pfizer was flat after US President Joe Biden’s administration announced its support for a global waiver on patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines, a move that could limit both drugmakers’ profits from their groundbreaking inoculations.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and The Nigerian Communications Satellite (NigComSat) on May 5, 2021, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the use of the C-band spectrum for Fifth Generation Network (5G) services in Nigeria at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja the Nation’s capital.

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Professor Umar Danbatta, explained that “Amongst the Frequency Spectrum bands allocated to 5G by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the C-band (3.4GHz – 3.9GHz stands out because its balancing point between coverage and capacity provides the perfect environment for 5G connectivity.

He also mentioned that “The C-band is most suitable and appropriate for immediate deployment of 5G services taking into consideration availability of device ecosystem with 60-70 per cent of global commercial 5G network deployment currently in the band; thus the importance of this Spectrum for early deployment of 5G services in Nigeria cannot be overemphasised.”

Professor Danbatta revealed that the two agencies have been discussing how to relocate the operations of NG-1R to the standard C-band 300MHz (3.9GHz – 4.2GHz) potion of the band, which is more suitable in terms of Satellite service offering because the end-user terminal is cheaper there while leaving the non-standard C-band 400MHz (3.5GHz – 3.9GHz) portion of the band for 5G use.

The Lagos State Government has warned telecommunication operators against illegal land digging for fibre cable laying.

The state government has asked operators to rather key into the ongoing fibre laying project the state is handling across the 20 local government areas and all the local council development areas.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Hakeem Fahm, made this known during the 2021 ministerial press briefing to commemorate the second year of Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.

Fahm said Lagos implemented a 3,000 km of Fibre Metro Network connection in 2020 and an additional 3,000km in 2021 across the state as part of the comprehensive Smart City Programme that seeks to provide a 24-hour driven economy.

He called on the private sector, especially the telecoms operators, to key into the project, plug into the ducts system “and avoid illegal land digging”.

He said “LASIMRA will monitor that and ensure that fibre projects are also done neatly across the state”. 

Brazil’s central bank on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate for the second time in a row by another 75 basis points to 3.5 percent as it tries to curb inflation in an economy ravaged by the pandemic.

The unanimous decision was in line with analyst expectations, and had been signaled by the bank’s monetary policy committee in March, when they raised rates for the first time in six years.

The committee indicated Wednesday that another rate hike of the same size was likely at the next meeting, set for mid-June.

Latin America’s biggest economy initially weathered the coronavirus economic meltdown better than its neighbors, thanks to its historic low interest rate of 2 percent, but policymakers have been nervous about rising prices.

The central bank had said March’s rate increase was an effort to impose “partial normalization” and prevent inflation from spiraling out of control.

Following the interest rate hike, officials announced in April that Brazil’s annual inflation rate hit 6.1 percent in March, breaking through the 5.25 percent ceiling of the central bank’s target range.

The central bank now must find the balance to make sure that raising rates to curb inflation does not keep the economy from a much-needed recovery.

After Wednesday’s decision, the voting committee said it anticipated “another adjustment of the same magnitude” in June, warning the central bank may have to take additional steps to “ensure compliance with the inflation goal.”

The bank’s 2021 inflation target is 3.75 percent, but could tolerate up to 5.25 percent.

In January Brazil’s inflation forecast for 2021 was within that target at 3.34 percent, but the rat has since reached 5.04 percent, according to a central bank analysis.