A hopeful sign for the manufacturing sector gave the markets a boost this morning, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended QE3 and pledged to keep rates low.
The Institute for Supply Management is reporting growth in the manufacturing sector for the first time in three months, as the index rose to 51.5 in September.
That reading was better than economists' expectations.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said that construction spending fell 0.6 percent in August, while economists were expecting a gain of 0.5 percent.
On the M&A front, 3M (NYSE:MMM) announced it is planning to acquire Ceradyne (CRDN) in a deal worth $670 million, excluding cash and equivalents.
Shares of Ceradyne rallied on the news today.
Tenet Healthcare (NYSE:THC) also edged higher today after the hospital operator announced a 4-to-1 reverse stock split in an effort to speed up growth.
Tomorrow, we'll take a look at the numbers for monthly auto sales.
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