Most U.S. firms believe Brexit will have negligible impact: ISM

By Metro Posted on July 1, 2016

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A majority of U.S. firms see only a negligible impact from Britain’s vote last week to leave the European Union, according to an industry report released on Friday.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said that 61 percent of businesses it surveyed saw a negligible impact compared to 6 percent who saw a negative impact for the remainder of the year.

According to the report, 27 percent saw a slightly negative impact while a further 4 percent forecast a slightly positive impact. There was little difference between non-manufacturing and manufacturing firms.

For those forecasting a negative impact, they mostly believed it would be a result of changes in foreign exchange rates stemming from the ‘Brexit’ vote.

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)