Mubasher: The US service sector growth slowed down in February, but registered an expansion for the 109th straight month, a report showed on Tuesday.

The non-manufacturing index (NMI) rose to 59.7% last February from 56.7% in January, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said.

The rise of the gauge was fuelled by 13-year highs in indices of business activity and new orders.

The index for business activity climbed to 64.7% in February, up from 59.7% in the preceding month, growing for the 115th consecutive month.

The index gauging new orders surged 7.5% to 65.2% last month from the prior month, whereas the import index declined to 48.5%, 3.5% lower than the previous month.

The gauge of employment in the sector fell 2.6% to 55.2% last month.

The ISM report indicated that the US service providers were not impacted much by an ongoing trade tensions and gloomier global growth outlook.

By 3:16 pm GMT, the US dollar index rose 0.22% to 96.8980.