S&P 500 starts Q4 with gains on manufacturing

The S&P 500 kicked off a new quarter with a modest rally on Monday, lifted by a surprising expansion in U.S. manufacturing in September.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 77.91 points, or 0.58 percent, to end unofficially at 13,515.04. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 3.80 points, or 0.26 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,444.48. But the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> slipped 2.70 points, or 0.09 percent, to close unofficially at 3,113.53.

Weakness in tech companies kept the Nasdaq in negative territory. Micron Tech fell 3.5 percent to $5.77 and JDS Uniphase lost 3.7 percent to $11.92.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)