U.S. Stocks Drop as Purchasing Managers Index Trails Estimates
By Michael P. Regan
Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks retreated after a measure of business activity unexpectedly shrank in September, overshadowing an earlier report that showed the recession abated more than estimated in the second quarter.
The Standard & Poors 500 Index lost 0.7 percent to 9,678.27 at 9:47 a.m. in New York after the Institute for Supply Managements gauge of business activity slipped to 46.1 in September, lower than the reading of 52 estimated by economists in a Bloomberg survey.