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he Dow Jones Industrial Average pivoted firmly lower Thursday morning after a closely watched report on conditions in the services sector came in much weaker than economists had expected. The Institute for Supply Management's non-service sector survey for September fell to 52.6 in from 56.4. The ISM services employment index slipped to 50.4 from 53.1 for the month. A reading of 50 indicates improving conditions but the report reflects to some a retrenchment of the economy, after a batch of other reports have come in weaker in recent days, including ADP's private-sector employment report on Wednesday and ISM's manufacturing survey on Tuesday, which was the weakest since 2009. The Dow DJIA, -1.06% was down nearly 320 points, or 1.2%, at 25,757, the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.85% was down 1% at 2,857, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.81% declined 1.1% at 7,701. All three benchmarks were trading flat to slightly higher before the ISM report. A separate report on factory orders showed also showed a slight fall in August.