Tug Of War
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Markets bounced off of their lows despite disappointing economic data.
First the scoreboard:
Dow: 13,035, -54.9, -0.4%

S&P 500: 1,404, +1.6, -0.1%

NASDAQ: 3,075, +8.1, +0.2%

And now the top stories:
  • U.S. investors and traders came back from their long weekends.  And there was a ton of economic data to price in.  Much of it was bad.

  • On Monday, the we got the August manufacturing PMI reports from the world's most important economies.  The big number was China's unofficial HSBC PMI number which fell to 47.6. This came after the official number unexpectedly fell to 49.2.  A reading below 50 indicates contraction.  These numbers have people increasingly worried that the world's second largest economy is heading for a hard landing.

  • Germany's manufacturing PMI climbed to 44.7 in August, but continues to reflect contraction. The export collapse in Europe's largest economy continued to gather pace. 

  • The Markit US manufacturing PMI number slipped to 51.5, which reflects a 34-month low for growth in the industry.   

  • A duo of disappointing economic reports caused markets to sell off at 10:00 AM.  Construction spending unexpectedly fell 0.9 percent in July due to weakness in the private sector. And the ISM manufacturing index unexpectedly fell to 49.6 from 49.8 a month ago.  Economists were looking for in increase to 50.0.

  • However, the stubborn bull market nevertheless bounced back to erase losses on no obvious news.

  • August U.S. auto sales jumped to an annualized rate of 14.5 million, the highest annualized rate since 2009.  Detroit's big three – GM, Ford, and Chrysler – all reported sales increases that were well ahead of expectations.