7 Jul 2009

Wall Street hesitant amid conflicting economic data

10:10 am on 7 July 2009

Wall Street struggled to a mixed finish on Monday, as a better-than-expected survey on the US services sector helped offset pessimism from last week's grim unemployment report.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 44.13 points, or 0.53%, to 8,324.87.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 2.30 points, or 0.26%, to 898.72.

But the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 9.12 points, or 0.51%, to 1,787.40.

The market opened weaker, in an extension of the downward momentum from last week, when the market was stunned by a weaker-than-expected report on US non-farm payrolls, which fell by 467,000 in June.

But investors appeared to warm to a survey by the Institute of Supply Management on the services sector that was better than expected. The index rose to 47%, which is below the level of 50 that indicates growth but ahead of analysts expectations for the key sector.