LONDON (ShareCast) - US blue chips picked up near the close as car maker GM rallied, but Nasdaq and the S&P ended lower.

Dow Jones added 15 to close at 11,532. S&P 500 shed 2 at 1,274 and Nasdaq fell 15 to 2,333.

General Motors led the Dow revival despite some pretty poor looking sales figures.It reported North American sales tumbled 20.4% in August, but this was better than forecasts and better than rival Ford. It saw sales tumble 27%.

Economic news was mixed. US factory orders rose more than expected in July, advancing 1.3% versus expectations of a 1% increase.The Federal Reserve's beige book reminded investors of the realities of the US situation. It highlighted the weak economic activity in most of its 12 districts and sluggish consumer spending.

Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren chipped in with a wanring that credit crunch was worse than the one seen in the early 1990's.

Oil prices fell slightly to close at just over $109 per barrel.

Financials suffered on news that hedge fund Ospraie Management is shutting its flagship commodity fund after taking a bath on its holdings of energy, mining and resource stocks.

Troubled US investment bank Lehman Brothers holds a 20% stake in Ospraie but its shares rose on bid speculation. A report in the South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo suggested that HSBC and a Chinese bank are running the rule over Lehman, with a view to launching a bid.

Elswhere, office supply group Staples saw second-quarter net profit drop 16% to $150m due to poor sales in North America.

Coca-Cola has entered into the Chinese market with a $2.5bn bid for juice maker China Huiyuan Juice.

Bond insurer AMBAC was wanted after it received regulatory approval to launch a new bond insurance business.

Food producer Kraft lowered its full-year profit forecast to reflect the sale of its Post cereals business.

S&P 500 - Risers
M G I C Invest Cp (MTG) $9.80 +13.95%
Tesoro Corp (TSO) $18.68 +8.10%
E Trade Financial Corp (ETFC) $3.50 +7.69%
Qwest Comm Intl Inc (Q) $4.12 +7.01%
Tenet Hlthcre Cp (THC) $6.44 +5.92%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Forest Labs Cl A (FRX) $31.20 -13.98%
MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) $41.45 -12.00%
Corning Inc (GLW) $17.19 -11.85%
Conagra Food Inc (CAG) $19.63 -8.53%
Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM) $20.29 -7.06%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
General Motors (GM) $11.27 +5.82%
Home Depot Inc (HD) $29.40 +4.74%
Amer Intl Group Inc (AIG) $22.58 +2.82%
Citigroup Inc (C) $19.60 +2.56%
United Tech (UTX) $67.42 +1.90%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Intel Corporation (INTC) $21.82 -3.35%
Alcoa Inc (AA) $29.80 -2.17%
Hewlett Packard Co (HPQ) $45.09 -1.98%
Caterpillar Inc (CAT) $67.73 -1.95%
McDonald's Corporation (MCD) $61.72 -1.89%
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) $26.90 -0.74%

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