This was the first negative reading since December 2010 and the lowest level for the index since August 2010.
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Factory activity as measured by the Institute for Supply Management, formerly the National Association of Purchasing Management, rose to an index level of 48.2 in December.
On the other hand, an acceleration in the inflation rate to just 3.0% would be expected to boost the level of the index by 8.92% annually through 2019.
The dip from 55.3 to an index level of 50.9 is much sharper than investors were predicting and comes a business day after a less than pleasant revision to first-half GDP.
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The level of the index reflects the looseness of financial conditions: an increase in interest rates or the exchange rate leads to a tightening, a rise in share prices to a loosening.
The put option gives buyers of that option the right to sell the index at the strike level of 4600, profitable if the index falls below 4600.
Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages above the federal level, and 10 states index their minimum wage to inflation to automatically rise with the cost of living.
Mike Lenhoff, a stock market strategist who is also from Brewin Dolphin, is optimistic about prospects for European equities for the rest of 2009 and has a year-end target of 5, 000 points for Britain's FTSE 100 all-share index, a level it has hovered around for the last month.
The Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.1% to its lowest level this year, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.4%.
But first, the bears would have to push the index through the 1300 level.
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After trading above this level on Friday morning, the index retreated back below it by later that afternoon.
The index has a median level of zero points, which represents no change in confidence from the previous quarter.
Among large non-manufacturers, the index reached its highest level in 15 years.
The Arkansas-based company is the primary funder behind the Sustainability Consortium, a multi-stakeholder initiative that is developing a sustainability index at the product level.
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On Wednesday, stocks were boosted by the much better numbers from the ISM on manufacturing, as the index hit its highest level in eight months.
The advanced GDP price index is at its lowest level since the second quarter of 1998.
He also cited a move in the dollar index back above the 80 level.
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That's up from a reading of 61.9 in March, bringing the index back to its February level.
Wholesale-level inflation, via the Producer Price Index, is running in the 4 to 6 percent range in most developed economies.
Lesh also cited a U.S. dollar index back above the 80 level.
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Markit's new orders index fell below the 50 level for the first time since December 2010, dropping to 49.6 from October's 52.9 as underlying demand remained weak.
Since the Moscow Exchange had its IPO, Russian markets fell noticeably on crude oil, and last week the MICEX index dropped to the lowest level since November 2012.
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Providing a more recent picture, the Chicago PMI Index fell below the 50 level that marks expansion and contraction in September, coming in at 49.7, its lowest level in three years.
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The addition of UnitedHealth will not cause a change in the level of the Dow, as the index committee will tweak its divisor prior to the Sept. 24 open to prevent any distortion.
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We are starting to see consumer-level inflation, via the Consumer Price Index, creep up in various economies, but, to date, there has been a disconnect between the 4 to 6 percent wholesale-level inflation and the 1 to 2 percent consumer-level inflation.
The Russell 2000 index is now at the same level as in January of this year.
The level of 50 in the purchasing managers' index separates contraction from expansion.
Hitting 67.7, consumer sentiment has been on the rise and reached its highest level in six months on Friday, the index showed.
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