国际英语新闻：U.S. stocks mixed ahead of Fed meeting

NEW YORK, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Monday as investors traded cautiously ahead midterm elections and Federal Reserve meeting.

Major indexes opened higher in the morning as the Purchasing Managers Index of China's manufacturing sector rose to 54.7 percent in October, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. The report spurred massive buying in China's stock market, driving the Shanghai Composite Index up 2.5 percent to its highest level in six months.

The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its manufacturing index rose from 54.4 to 56.9 in October, which was stronger than market expectation.

Manufacturing activity were driven by demand in the United States and abroad for cars, computers and other goods.The report signals that U.S. factory output remains a strong player in an otherwise weak economy.

The stocks well off their morning highs, as a separate report showed U.S. personal spending weakened to its lowest level in three months and income fell for the first time in 14 months.

Most importantly, investors were still cautiously awaiting a string of long-awaited events later this week, including a Federal Reserve meeting in which the central bank is expected to announce additional stimulus measures, midterm elections and the government 's report on October non-farm payrolls.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 6.13, or 0.06 percent, to 11,124.62. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 1.12 points, or 0.09 percent, to 1,184.38 and the Nasdaq was down 2.57 points, or 0.10 percent, to 2,504.84.

Oil prices surged Monday on reports that point to improving economic growth in the United States and China. Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose 1.52 U.S. dollars to settle at 82.95 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, Brent crude rose 1.47 dollars to settle at 84.62 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.