Stocks slide…Manufacturing slows…Auto sales remain strong

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are sliding in afternoon trading on Wall Street, putting the market on course for its third straight day of losses. The Dow Jones industrial average has been down more than 200 points. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was off more than 20 points and the Nasdaq composite index lost more than 60. Still, the market remains close to all-time highs reached last month.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A trade group of purchasing managers reports that the pace of manufacturing growth slowed in September. The Institute for Supply Management says its manufacturing index fell to 56.6 from 59 in August. Anything above 50 signals that manufacturing is growing. The index’s measure of new orders fell to 60 from a reading of 66.7, while the employment component fell to 54.6 from 58.1.

DETROIT (AP) — September was another strong month for auto sales, fueled by big discounts on pickup trucks. General Motors and Chrysler led the industry with 19 percent sales increases over last September. Toyota, Honda and Nissan sales also rose, while Ford and Volkswagen sales were down.

MILFORD, Mich. (AP) — General Motors CEO Mary Barra has told investors that GM will rely on new models and a big push to sell more cars in China to boost profits in coming years, as the company tries to shift the spotlight from a mishandled recall. GM recalled 2.6 million small cars worldwide earlier this year to fix faulty ignition switches that are now blamed for at least 23 deaths nationwide. Barra says suppliers have made enough parts to fix all of the switches, but only 1.1 million small cars have had the repairs so far.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The maker of the much-debated painkiller Zohydro is seeking approval of a harder-to-abuse version of its drug. San Diego-based Zogenix says it has submitted a Food and Drug Administration application for the new formulation that is designed to be more difficult to snort or inject. If approved, it could replace the currently marketed version of the pill by next spring.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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