US open: Stocks little changed on mixed US data
US stocks were little changed as investors digested US data that showed a fall in personal spending and a rise in consumer confidence.
US household purchases dropped 0.1% following a 0.4% increase in June. Analysts had predicted a 0.2% rise.
"The 0.1% rise in real disposable personal income is also a bit disappointing, but at least it comes after some rapid gains in the first half of the year," Capital Economics said.
"We expect that income growth will accelerate as employment rises further and wage growth picks-up. If so, then consumption growth should soon rise."
The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index climbed to 82.4 in August in the final report, up from a preliminary reading of 79.2 and ahead of consensus expectations of 80.1.
The median inflation expectation over the next year fell 0.2 percentage points (pp) to 3.4% and by 0.1pp to 2.9% for the next five to 10 years.
"Overall, consumer confidence remains in the relatively tight range it has occupied this year and is consistent with continued moderate growth in consumer spending," Barclays Research said.
The Chicago purchasing managers' index (PMI) for manufacturing activity was revised higher to 56.5 in August from an initial reading of 52.6, beating expectations' of 64.3.
Avago, Pacific Sunwear
Avago Technologies, a semiconductor-device supplier, advanced after it reported quarterly earnings that beat estimates.
Clothing retailer Pacific Sunwear of California dropped after forecasting losses in the third quarter that were worse than expected.
Veeva Systems advanced as the provider of cloud-based business services lifted its year-end earnings prediction after posting second-quarter earnings that exceeded forecasts.
RD