US stocks end mixed as manufacturing growth slows
Source: AP-Excite
By STEVE ROTHWELL
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks got off to a sluggish start on the first day of trading in the New Year, ending the day mixed as a report showed that manufacturing growth slowed in December.
U.S. factory activity grew at the slowest pace in six months last month, weakened by declines in orders and production, according to the Institute for Supply Management. While the sector is still in good health, growth was slower than economists had forecast.
The stock market climbed to record levels at the end of 2014 and investors may now be reassessing the outlook for the market at the start of the year, said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial, an independent broker-dealer firm. While growth prospects in the U.S. look decent, in Europe and Asia they are less encouraging.
Investors are "stepping back and saying, 'now we're in the New Year, let's take a fresh look,' " said McMillan. "There's certainly some degree of, I wouldn't say pessimism, but readjustment, going on."
FULL story at link.
FILE - This Oct. 8. 2014, file photo, shows a Wall Street address carved into the side of a building in New York. U.S. stocks are opening the year on a strong note, but energy stocks slipped as the price of crude oil resumed its slide, Friday, Jan. 2, 2015. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150102/financial_markets-1a5dc46a8b.html
