Markets mixed on manufacturing news

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NEW YORK, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes were mixed Tuesday following the Labor Day holiday on reports manufacturing extended its slump in July.

The Institute of Supply Management said the headline manufacturing index, the Purchasing Managers Index, dropped slightly from 49.8 percent in June to 49.6 percent in July. Economists had forecast manufacturing would rise to 50 percent, which is the breakeven point between contraction and growth.

The government said construction spending fell 0.9 percent in July, a deviation from the forecast, which called for a 0.4 percent gain in construction outlays in the month.

On Monday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said he would be comfortable with the ECB buying three-year government bonds. But Draghi previously said bonds would be purchased from countries that first requested international assistance from the European Stability Mechanism. Critically, neither Spain nor Italy, both with high borrowing rates, has requested help.

By close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 54.90 points or 0.42 percent to 13,035.94. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index added 8.10 points or 0.26 percent to 3,075.06. The Standard and Poor's 500 shed 1.64 points or 0.12 percent to 1,404.94.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,794 stocks advanced and 1,214 declined on a volume of 2.9 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year treasury fell 7/32, yielding 1.576 percent.

The euro fell $1.2568 from Friday's $1.2593. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 78.42 yen from 78.26 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 255 index lost 0.1 percent, 8.38 points, to 8,775.51.

In London, the FTSE 100 index lost 1.5 percent, 86.40, to 5,672.01.