OREANDA-NEWS. December 2, 2011. The US indices were consolidating as no significant news came to the market. Rumors on private investors’ group bid to Yahoo drove Technology stocks higher (+0.6%). S&P 500 Index lost 0.19% while Russell was down by 0.9% with Financials as the laggards.

Initial jobless claims went up to 402K in November vs consensus forecast of 390K.

ISM Manufacturing Index rose to 52.7 vs consensus forecast of 51.8, to a 5-month high. New Orders and Production components went up sharply, indicating that the US economic activity rebounded in the 4Q. Historically this reading corresponds with a 2.0-2.5% GDP growth.

Asian indices were mixed on Friday. Shanghai stock indices lost 1.14 – 3.45%. Hang Seng was down by 0.25%. Japanese Nikkei added 0.54%. Korean Kospi closed flat. S&P/ASX 200 rose by 1.4%

PPI prices will be in focus in the Eurozone today.

Non-farm payrolls are to be released in the US.