US open: Dow in reverse

LONDON (ShareCast) - It's a lonely place on the Dow Jones (news) leader board, with just three companies rising as weak consumer confidence data offsets a strong manufacturing report.

The final read of the University of Michigan consumer confidence index revealed a drop to 70.6 in October, slightly better than the 70 predicted, but worse than the 73.5 hit a month earlier.

That overshadowed a big improvement in manufacturing activity in the Chicago region this month. The Chicago PMI rose to 54.2 from 46.1 in September. A read of more than 50 indicates growth.

Stocks had rallied Thursday on stronger than expected US economic growth, but investors have decided to exit banks and oil plays ahead of the weekend.

The blue chip Dow Jones has fallen 68 points to 9,894, the tech-laced Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ: news) is off 9 at 2,088, while the broader S&P 500 is down 7 at 1,059.

In other news Friday, US personal spending fell by 0.5% in September, according to the Commerce Department. It was the first drop in five months and the biggest decline in 2009, but had been predicted.

Personal income came in flat, again as expected, although savings rose to an annual rate of $355.6bn. That takes the saving rate to 3.3% from 2.8% in August.

On the companies front, oil giant Chevron (NYSE: CVX - news) is lower after profits sank by more than half in the third quarter after being hit by sharply lower oil prices.

It reported net income of $3.83bn, down 51% from $7.89bn in the third quarter of 2008. Revenues totalled $45bn, compared with $76bn in the same period the previous year.