"Firms are holding pat right now"
- Sam Bullard, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC
U.S. manufacturing activity shrunk for a second month in July. The Institute for Supply Management's index for the manufacturing sector rose to 49.8 from 49.7 in June, said Arizona-based group on Wednesday. A reading below 50.0 indicates industry contraction.
"We've seen slower growth in emerging markets, the recession in Europe -- all of that is still ever-present," said Sam Bullard, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina. "Firms are holding pat right now."
"The numbers don't really change the anemic picture much," said Paul Ashworth, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics. "This shows that the manufacturing index is more exposed to the global economic slowdown, and that's no shock after the weak PMIs out of China and Europe."
The Standard & Poor's 500 edged lower 0.3% to 1,379.32. The Dow Jones Industrial Average erased 0.29%, or 37.62 points, to 12,971.06. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.66% to 2,920.21.
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