United States markets were mixed as September trading began on Friday, with retailers and other consumer stocks showing improvement.þþKEEPING SCORE In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.05 percent and the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index lost 0.09 percent. The Nasdaq composite index gained 0.19 percent.þþEARLY MOVERS Wynn Resorts stock gained 6 percent, the most in the S.&P. 500. Shares of the Cruise operator Royal Caribbean rose 3 percent. Shares of Campbell Soup sank 5 percent after the company reported results that fell short of analysts’ forecasts.þþEUROPEAN MARKETS In Germany, the DAX rose 0.3 percent and in France, the CAC 40 gained 0.8 percent. The FTSE 100 was down 0.1 percent in Britain.þþMANUFACTURING An official monthly survey of Chinese factory managers, a barometer for manufacturing activity, came in at a better-than-expected 50.4 in August, on a 1-100 scale where 50 signifies the threshold between contraction and expansion. The results reflected improved expectations among Chinese factory managers and upticks in production and orders.þþþþþþThe equivalent index in Britain rebounded in August, to 53.3 from a 41-month low in July of 48.3. It was a 10-month high and suggested manufacturers were helped by the drop in the pound and had regained their poise after the initial shock of the June vote for Britain to leave the European Union.þþJAPAN’S MALAISE A Ministry of Finance survey showed spending in Japan on factories and equipment in the April-June quarter was weaker than expected. The strength of the Japanese yen is pinching exporters who reaped windfall gains when the yen sank to near 120 yen a dollar. “The upshot is that the second estimate of G.D.P., due next Thursday, should confirm that the economy stagnated last quarter,” Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said in an analysis.þþASIA’S DAY The Nikkei 225 closed up 0.2 percent in Japan, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 0.8 percent. The Shanghai composite index lost 0.7 percent in China. In Australia, the S.&P./ASX 200 lost 0.3 percent, while the Sensex in India climbed 0.3 percent.þþOIL Benchmark United States crude lost 43 cents, to $44.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, it dropped $1.65. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 50 cents, to $46.32.þþBONDS AND CURRENCIES Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.61 percent. The dollar rose to 103.63 yen from 103.29 yen the previous day. The euro fell to $1.1150 from $1.1161.þ
Source: NY Times
