Despite a volatile Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15% for the third quarter, the largest single-quarter since the end fourth quarter of 1998. Daily results for many exchange-traded funds were wildly mixed as crude oil prices and emerging markets saw big moves.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 31 points, closing at 9712. The Nasdaq shed 2, staying near flat at 2122. The S&P 500 closed down 4 at 1056.

The September Chicago purchasing managers' index (PMI) was unexpectedly lower, coming in at 46.1 after reaching 50.0 in August. Standard & Poor's expected the index to rise to 51.0, which would have indicated two straight months of economic growth.

The pace of economic decline slowed again in the second quarter, according to the Commerce Department's latest report on gross domestic product, but August job losses were higher than expected, payroll processor Automatic Data Processing and Macroeconomic Advisors reported.

Crude oil futures climbed $3.90 during regular Wednesday trading, then dropped 32 cents from their afternoon close on Nymex, heading to $70.29 a barrel after weak gasoline inventory data from the Energy Department. For a detailed rundown on Wednesday s trading session see our market story.

Winners

After crude oil prices rallied by $3.90 a barrel, shares of the United States Oil fund rose 5.4%. The iShares Silver fund climbed 3.1% as metals prices rose.

Losers

The iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Index fund dropped 1.3%, declining ahead of the broader market. The Shares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index fund dropped 1.1% as Chinese markets stayed volatile ahead of the Thursday holiday marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Wednesday s Industry Headlines

Launching Pad
San Francisco-based Grail Advisors plans to launch a quartet of actively managed exchange-traded funds, which are scheduled to begin trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. RiverPark Advisors of New York will manage the funds: RP Growth, RP Focused Large Cap Growth, RP Technology and RP Financials, The Wall Street Journal reported. Grail CEO Bill Thomas said the firm wants to launch between 24 and 30 actively managed ETFs in the next year.

Data Point
ETF manager Direxion said it will reduce the leverage of its index mutual funds. Funds that sought to achieve 250% or -250% of the performance of their index on a daily basis will now seek to achieve 200% or -200% of the performance of their index on a monthly basis, the company said. President Dan O'Neill said the company's ETFs will continue to mirror daily index returns. "While our leveraged daily ETFs are designed primarily for traders seeking more immediate results based on short-term market movements, our leveraged monthly mutual funds are well-suited for investors implementing sophisticated investment strategies with slightly longer time frames," he said.

Thursday s Notebook

Earnings and Conference Calls
Accenture, Constellation Brands, CRA International, DemandTec, Global Payments, Immucor, Resources Global Professionals, Richelieu Hardware, Smart Modular Technologies, SMSC

Economic Data
7:30 a.m. Challenger Job-Cut Report
8:30 a.m. Personal Income and Outlays
8:30 a.m. Jobless Claims
10:00 a.m. ISM Manufacturing Index
10:00 a.m. Construction Spending
10:00 a.m. Pending Home Sales Index
10:30 a.m. EIA Natural Gas Report
4:30 p.m. Fed Balance Sheet