New York said its business conditions index rose for a third consecutive month to 349.7 in September, its highest level in at least eight years. U.S. financial markets responded differently to the day's mixed bag of economic data. Stocks ended mixed with the Dow Jones industrial average ending up 0.15 percent, the S&P 500 Index closing down 0.33 percent and the Nasdaq composite gaining 0.25 percent. --more 2329 Local Time 2029 GMT
