Sept. 5 (MF Global) -- This market comment was written at 8:15 a.m. on September 2nd, US east coast time...
 
Metals retreated slightly yesterday, as the barrage of generally weaker macro statistics weighed on the markets. Even the better-than-expected August ISM number out of the US failed to provide much of a lift, although it did likely prevent the selling from gathering pace. In this regard, the ISM number came in at 50.6, well ahead of the 48.6 reading expected, and more importantly is now back into growth territory. However, some of the underlying components were biased towards the downside. As examples, although new orders strengthened from 49.2 in July to 49.6, they remain in contraction mode, while order backlogs contracted for a third consecutive month. In addition, investors have to reconcile the stronger number against last month's batch of relatively uneven regional surveys, including the weakest Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook (-30.7) since March 2009 and the lowest Richmond manufacturing reading (-10) since June 2009. Although the more recent Chicago and Kansas City PMI's held up much better, the fact that the ISM went positive amid such varying readings suggests the implied strength in manufacturing remains somewhat murky. However, there is no doubt that at least car sales have perked up of late, and this likely explains some of the better readings. Reports out yesterday showed that major US automakers experienced double-digit sales gains in August compared with year-earlier levels. GM reported a gain of 18%, Ford saw sales rise by 11%, and even Chrysler’s sales were up 31%, its largest increase in four years.