Stocks turn lower

Stocks on Wall Street turned lower Friday in midmorning trading with the year hanging in the balance for the broad-shouldered Standard & Poor's 500 index. For the week, the S&P 500 has been trading on both sides of its Jan. 1 starting point, which was 1,257.64 points. It closed at 1,263.02 Thursday and went south Friday morning, dropping 1.27 points or 0.09 percent to 1,261.75. HSBC reported Friday China's diffuse Purchasing Managers Index of manufacturing activity remained below the break-even point of 50 in December, coming it at 48.7. It was the fifth month of contraction for China's manufacturing sector out of the past six months. In other Wall Street numbers, the Dow Jones industrial average shed 0.17 percent, 20.29 points, to 12,266.75. The Nasdaq composite index lost 0.09 percent, 2.35, to 2,611.75. The benchmark 10-year treasury note rose 11/32 to yield 1.861 percent. The euro rose to $1.2979 from Thursday's $1.2961. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 77.12 yen from Thursday's 77.64 yen. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index gained 0.67 percent, 56.46, to 8,455.35.