Wall Street index futures are positive ahead of a report on manufacturing activity from the U.S Institute for Supply Management. In lieu of other economic news the biggest business news driving the markets today comes from the big car companies.

Ford plans to cut about 12,000 jobs worldwide. In Canada, Ford has cancelled a plan to build small sport-utility vehicles in Oakville, Ont., says the Wall Street Journal. Instead it will do the assembly in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, Chrysler says it plans to eliminate several thousand positions. Fierce competition from foreign rivals and the auto market’s price war are cited as the cause of these cuts.

In Asia, though, Japanese stocks finished higher after a survey indicated stronger business confidence. The Nikkei average added 142.19 points, or 1.4%, to 10,361.24. Hong Kong’s stock market was closed for a holiday.

At midday in Europe, London’s FTSE 100 index is up 0.7%, rising 29.8 to 4,121.1. The German DAX is down 0.7%, while Paris’s CAC40 has edged up 0.2%.

Yesterday, stock markets ended the third quarter on a down note, following disappointing reports on U.S. consumer confidence and manufacturing.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 105.18 points to 9,275.06. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 37.62 points to 1,786.94 and the S&P 500 index lost 10.61 to 995.97. In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index slipped 24.49 points to 7,421.13.

However, the TSX composite index gained 6.3% in the past three months. The Nasdaq ended Q3 up 10.1%. The Dow rose 3.2% and the S&P advanced 2.2%.