Wall St reversed an opening lead this afternoon after investors reacted to the slump in the Chicago PMI to a nine-month low. Investors had opened the session in a buying mood, focusing on the fact that Q3 GDP growth was more than double the Q2 reading - and ignoring the fact that it was still less than expected. However, the good mood dissipated following the publication of the Chicago manufacturing PMI, which fell to 45.5 in October from 48.1 in September.
After two hours of trade, the Dow Jones was down 10.89 points at 8,416.52, while the Nasdaq was up just 2.38 at 1,329.11. Shortly after the open, the Dow had gained 33 points and the Nasdaq had been up 16 points. The Dow is heading toward its best month in almost 16 years, having climbed 11pc during October. That would be its largest monthly gain since January 1987. Tech stocks were among the best of the blue chips, with Intel, IBM and Microsoft all higher, while oil giant Exxon jumped 1.6pc after its third quarter earnings edged past expectations.//www.fxcentre.com