Shares of industrial and transportation companies rose after mixed data was seen as increasing the chance of a dovish comment from the Federal Reserve.
The U.S. manufacturing activity index fell 0.7 percentage point to 50.2 in October, on the brink of entering contraction territory, according to the Institute for Supply Management. In a development that could influence the Fed's interest-rate plans, input prices reported on the survey fell for the first time since 2020, according to ISM.
"Prices are finally declining after an extended period of extreme inflationary pressures," said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at brokerage LPL Financial, in a note to clients. Similarly, order backlogs fell to the lowest level since 2020.
"Supply chains have improved dramatically, releasing some of the inflationary pressures of this year," said Mr. Roach. Some links on global supply chains remain weak, however, as Chinese Covid restrictions remain in place. Farm equipment maker Agco said supply-chain issues were still hampering its business, for example.
Atlas Corp. agreed to a roughly $10.9 billion buyout from investment consortium Poseidon Acquisition after months of negotiations that saw Poseidon amass a 50% stake in Atlas. Atlas owns containership builder Seaspan, and APR Energy, which leases a fleet of gas turbines and other power generation equipment.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-01-22 1728ET
