New York markets drop on manufacturing data

At midday in New York on Friday the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.33 percent lower to 12,181.39, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.76 percent to 2,413.37 and the S&P 500 fell 0.31 percent to 1,396.26. The declines came after the Institute for Supply Management reported that its manufacturing index was at 49.5 percent in November, down from 51.2 in October. Analysts had expected that the index would stay above 50 and actually advance a bit to 51.5.

Despite the declines on the day, all three indices are up so far for the year, with the Dow 13.66 higher, the Nasdaq up 9.43 percent and the S&P 11.85 higher since the beginning of January.

The automobile manufacturing sector was mixed on the day. General Motors added 4 cents to $29.27 on a high number of shares traded after Kirk Kerkorian sold his stake in the carmaker. But Ford fell 12 cents to $8.01 after it said sales in the US had dropped by 9.6 percent in November, while DaimlerChrisler AG was 40 cents lower to $57.88 even though it said sales were up 4.7 last month.

Home Deopt was up $1.27 to $39.24 on rumors that a number of private equity sources might be interested in bidding for the home improvement retailer.

In the construction equipment sector, Caterpillar dropped $1.13 to $60.90.

Among semiconductors manufacturers, Intel fell 45 cents to $20.95.

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