Shares of industrial and transportation companies fell after weak factory data.

The Institute for Supply Management said its purchasing managers' index of manufacturing activity slipped to 48.5 in June from 48.7 in May, thwarting economists' expectations for a slight increase.

Boeing rose after the aerospace giant clinched a deal to buy its former fuselage unit, Spirit AeroSystems, for about $4.7 billion in stock, taking back the firm after two decades of independence. Spirit shares rose as the $37.25 a share price topped market expectations for the long-telegraphed deal.

"Hopefully, this will address some of Boeing's manufacturing and safety issues," said J.D. Joyce, president of Houston financial advisory Joyce Wealth Management. Separately, prosecutors plan to ask Boeing to plead guilty to deceiving air-safety regulators about a crucial aspect of the 737 MAX planes implicated in two disastrous crashes, wiping out a more lenient agreement from three years earlier. The case is "coming at a time that Boeing [is seeking] to move forward without all these additional headaches," noted Joyce. "If the company is found to be criminal, what does that mean for different contracts, what does it mean for the defense part?"

Spending on construction in the U.S. declined in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2.14 trillion, surprising economists who had expected an increase.


Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-01-24 1727ET