Weak September manufacturing data dragged the benchmark US equity indices into the red on the first trading day of the fourth quarter - Dow settled -344-points or -1.28% lower, unwinding an earlier gain of more than >100-points The broader S&P500 lost -1.23%, Manufacturers Honeywell International Inc and 3M Co both fell at least 2.8% on the back of the weak manufacturing data. NASDAQ shed -1.13%. However, Apple Inc rose +0.28% after the company's chief executive Tim Cook told German tabloid Bild that the newly launched iPhone 11 has enjoyed a "very strong start". Global year-over-year sales of chips fell for an eighth straight month, according to data released by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). August chip sales fell -15.9% to US$34.2B from the previous year, when semiconductor sales peaked at record levels. However, the SIA did point out that "While worldwide semiconductor sales remain well behind the totals reached in 2018, month-to-month sales increased in two consecutive months for the first time in nearly a year,"
