NEW YORK, Dhu-AlHijjah 9, 1436, September 23, 2015, SPA -- U.S. stocks closed mildly lower Wednesday as investors eyed oil and commodity prices, amid weak manufacturing data for China. In U.S. economic news, growth in the manufacturing sector showed no month-over-month change during September, staying at August’s sluggish pace of 53, which was the weakest in almost two years. In international economic news, the preliminary China manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to a six-and-a-half-year low of 47.0 in September, below a 47.5 forecast. Asian shares skidded deeper into negative territory following the data, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite stock index closing more than 2 percent lower. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday. European markets reversed early falls but gave up gains to close mildly higher, with the DAX up less than half a percent. In corporate news, Volkswagen recovered from a recent plunge of more than 30 percent to hold more than 5 percent higher in the close. Martin Winterkorn resigned as the firm’s chief executive. Last week, news emerged that the automaker had misled authorities over the emissions of its diesel cars. The dollar traded a touch lower against major world currencies. Light sweet crude oil for November delivery dropped $1.88 to $44.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gold futures added $6.70 to $1,131.60 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 51, or 0.31 percent, to 16,278. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 4, or 0.20 percent, to 1,938. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index lost 5, or 0.11 percent, to 4,751. -- SPA 00:42 LOCAL TIME 21:42 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w