US open: Stocks rise despite weak spending and manufacturing data

Wall Street stocks advanced on Monday despite some weak economic data, with personal spending and income figures missing expectations and manufacturing activity growing at its slowest rate in a year.

By 10:05 in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq were up 0.5%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.3%.

Indices were extending gains after a solid showing in February, with the S&P 500 in particular rising 5.5% during the month - its best performance since October 2011.

Personal spending in the US dropped 0.2% in January, better than the 0.3% decline registered in December but lower than the 0.1% dip expected by economists.

The decline came as personal income rose 0.3% in January, matching December but a slightly lower result than the 0.4% increase estimated by economists.

The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) US manufacturing index declined to 52.9 in February, from 53.5 the month before, slightly below the 53.0 consensus forecast. This was the survey's lowest rate of growth - identified by figures over 50 - since January 2014.

Economist Paul Ashworth from Capital Economics said that while there is "no reason to panic", the ISM data was "muted".

"The unseasonably severe weather got even worse in February, so there is little prospect of a rebound until March (and given how March just started, possibly not until April)," he said.

Wireless solutions group Aruba Networks declined after strong gains last week as it confirmed that it will be taken over by Hewlett-Packard in a $3bn deal.

NXP Semiconductors jumped after saying it would merge with Freescale Semiconductor in a $11.8bn deal.