MARKETS ARE CRATERING AFTER UGLY MANUFACTURING DATA

02-03-2014 • http://www.businessinsider.com, Matthew Boesler

he headline index from the ISM report tumbled to 51.3 from December's 56.5 reading, indicative of a sharp slowdown in American manufacturing in January. The consensus Wall Street estimate called for a much smaller decline to 56.0.

In the wake of the release, the S&P 500 is trading 2.4% lower at 1740, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury note is 2.59%, 5 basis points below Friday's close. Gold is up 1.4%, trading at $1257 an ounce.

The big news overnight and this morning has been the steady stream of purchasing managers index survey data releases from the world's largest economies. Growth in China's services sector is slowing, while growth in the eurozone's manufacturing sector is accelerating, and growth in America's manufacturing sector is slowing.