Off the wire
• British manufacturing PMI hits 16-month high  • International Space Station's 15 years of continuous human presence celebrated  • Postal worker strikes disrupt mail deliveries in Finland  • Dutch FM calls for cooperation in handling climate change impacts on security  • Urgent: U.S. stocks tick up on upbeat data  • Giant cranes arrive in Liverpool after three-month voyage from Shanghai  • South Sudan warring parties exchange accusations on violating cease-fire deal  • Swedish students return to site of school stabbing spree  • UN says more than 700 Iraqis killed by terrorists in fighting in October  • Food safety, trade should improve nutrition, boost development: FAO and WTO  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks tick up on upbeat data

Xinhua, November 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks posted solid gains Monday, the first trading day in November, as investors cheered over a batch of positive economic reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 165.22 points, or 0.94 percent, to 17,828.76. The S&P 500 jumped 24.69 points, or 1.19 percent, to 2,104.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 73.40 points, or 1.45 percent, to 5,127.15.

U.S. construction spending during September was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,094.2 billion U.S. dollars, 0.6 percent above the revised August estimate and beating market consensus of a 0.4-percent increase, according to the Commerce Department Monday.

Financial data firm Markit reported that the final read on October manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) picked up to a six-month high at 54.1, up from 53.1 in September.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management said Monday the October PMI registered 50.1 percent, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the September reading of 50.2 percent, but slightly above market expectations.

"Having stabilized around 50, the manufacturing sector is hovering between contraction or recovery. Whether or not we head up or down from here will be dependent on a combination of global growth prospects and Federal Reserve accommodation," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Meanwhile, traders will look to Friday's non-farm payrolls reports for hints on the timing of an interest rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

In corporate news, shares of Visa fell 3.04 percent to 75.22 dollars apiece Monday, after the company posted lower-than-expected quarterly profit.

On Friday, U.S. stocks closed lower as investors digested economic data and quarterly earnings reports, but ended October with their best monthly gains in four years. Endit