{"id":54011,"date":"2025-10-03T10:39:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T14:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/us-services-sector-stalls-inflation-persists-trump-issues-hamas-ultimatum\/54011\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T10:39:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T14:39:02","slug":"us-services-sector-stalls-inflation-persists-trump-issues-hamas-ultimatum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/us-services-sector-stalls-inflation-persists-trump-issues-hamas-ultimatum\/54011\/","title":{"rendered":"US Services Sector Stalls, Inflation Persists; Trump Issues Hamas Ultimatum"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>US ISM Services PMI<\/strong> for September registered <strong>50.0<\/strong>, signaling stagnation in the vital services sector for the first time since January 2010, significantly missing expectations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Inflationary pressures<\/strong> remain a concern, with the <strong>Prices Paid Index<\/strong> climbing to <strong>69.4<\/strong>, exceeding estimates and indicating persistent cost increases for businesses.<\/li>\n<li>Former US President <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong> has issued a critical ultimatum, demanding that <strong>Hamas<\/strong> agree to a peace deal with Israel by <strong>Sunday evening at 6:00 P.M. ET<\/strong>, with threats of severe repercussions if the deadline is not met.<\/li>\n<li><strong>ECB President Christine Lagarde<\/strong> affirmed that the Euro Zone has demonstrated &quot;stronger resilience than expected&quot; and is currently &quot;in a good place,&quot; emphasizing the need to maintain this stability.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>EU Council<\/strong> has extended its <strong>sanctions against Russia<\/strong> for an additional year, until October 9, 2026, in response to Russia&#39;s ongoing &quot;hybrid activities&quot; and information manipulation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The U.S. services sector, a dominant force in the nation&#39;s economy, showed signs of stagnation in September, as the <strong>ISM Services PMI<\/strong> dropped to <strong>50.0<\/strong>. This figure, which marks the breakeven point between expansion and contraction, fell short of the 51.7 estimate and the previous month&#39;s 52.0, indicating a significant slowdown in economic activity. The <strong>Business Activity Index<\/strong> also entered contraction territory at <strong>49.9%<\/strong>, the first such instance since May 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the overall slowdown, inflationary pressures persisted, with the <strong>Prices Paid Index<\/strong> rising to <strong>69.4<\/strong>, slightly above the 68.0 estimate and the prior 69.2, suggesting that businesses continue to face elevated costs. Meanwhile, <strong>New Orders<\/strong> decelerated to <strong>50.4<\/strong>, missing the 54.0 estimate, while <strong>Employment<\/strong> remained in contraction at <strong>47.2<\/strong>, though it showed a slight improvement from the previous <strong>46.5<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In a significant geopolitical development, former US President Donald Trump has set a firm deadline for a resolution in the Middle East conflict. Trump stated on Truth Social that an agreement with <strong>Hamas<\/strong> must be reached by <strong>Sunday evening at 6:00 P.M. Washington, D.C. time<\/strong>, warning of &quot;all hell&quot; if the group fails to comply. He indicated that &quot;Great, powerful, and very rich Nations of the Middle East,&quot; along with the United States and Israel, have agreed to a peace framework, giving Hamas &quot;one last chance&quot;. Trump also reiterated his condemnation of Hamas as a &quot;ruthless and violent threat,&quot; citing the October 7th massacre.<\/p>\n<p>Across the Atlantic, <strong>European Central Bank (ECB)<\/strong> President Christine Lagarde offered a more optimistic assessment of the Euro Zone economy. Lagarde remarked that the region has demonstrated &quot;more strength than expected&quot; and that the ECB is currently &quot;in a good place,&quot; emphasizing the commitment to maintaining this stability. Her comments suggest a cautious but confident stance on the economic outlook, with inflation risks deemed &quot;quite contained&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>Adding to the geopolitical landscape, the <strong>EU Council<\/strong> announced the extension of sanctions against <strong>Russia<\/strong> for another year, until October 9, 2026. These restrictive measures target <strong>47 individuals<\/strong> and <strong>15 legal entities<\/strong> responsible for Russia&#39;s &quot;destabilizing actions abroad,&quot; including &quot;hybrid activities&quot; and the manipulation of foreign information against the EU and its member states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways The US ISM Services PMI for September registered 50.0, signaling stagnation in the vital services sector for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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