The Institute for Supply Management, an organization of corporate purchasing executives based in Tempe, Ariz., said its manufacturing index registered 52.9 in August, down from 53.8 in July and slightly below the expectations of Wall Street economists. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.

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DETROIT (AP) — Chrysler LLC, Toyota Motor Corp. and Ford Motor Co. each reported sales declines last month, but General Motors Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. surprised industry analysts Tuesday by showing increases, despite the declining U.S. auto market.

Toyota's 2.8 percent sales drop, Ford's 14.4 percent decline and Chrysler's 6.1 percent decrease were symptoms of what analysts said would be a slumping U.S. auto market due to high gasoline prices, rising mortgage payments and turmoil in the financial markets.

Ford's drop allowed Toyota to take the No. 2 slot in U.S. auto sales from Ford for August and for the first eight months of the year.

But GM, led by increased pickup truck sales, showed an increase of 6.1 percent, while Nissan Motor Co. reported its sales increased 6.3 percent for August and Honda Motor Co. reported a 4.7 percent increase.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve and other banking regulators issued special guidance Tuesday urging loan service companies to work with borrowers in danger of defaulting on their home mortgages.

The new guidelines are not mandatory, but the regulators expressed the hope that companies that collect payments on mortgages would heed the advice.

Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said mortgage collectors have the authority under existing accounting and tax rules to help deserving borrowers.

The banking regulators' guidance issued by the Fed and the other agencies followed President Bush's announcement Friday that his administration was putting forward proposals aimed at preventing defaults expected over the next two years as the housing industry goes through a serious downturn.

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SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Discount wireless phone provider MetroPCS Communications Inc. on Tuesday offered to buy regional rival Leap Wireless International Inc. for about $5.12 billion in stock — a deal that could effectively create another nationwide carrier.

Both companies, two of the fastest-growing wireless providers in the country, offer prepaid phone plans. But they do so in few overlapping markets, and analysts have long speculated the companies might combine.

The buyout offer would give Leap investors 2.75 MetroPCS shares for every share they own. Dallas-based MetroPCS would also assume $2 billion in debt.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — It's odd for an agency that has the word "communications" as its middle name, but the Federal Communications Commission routinely leaves the public in the dark about how it makes critical policy decisions.

That secrecy was on display during the recent debate over how the government should auction off the rights to billions of dollars worth of publicly owned airwaves.

For three weeks, potential bidders such as AT&T Inc. and Google Inc. and a coalition of public interest groups waged a war through the media over proposed rules, prepared under FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, that would guide the auction.

The debate advanced largely on rumor and speculation, because Martin's draft, as required by agency rules, was never made public. In fact, even when commissioners approved the auction rules at an open meeting on July 31, they still hadn't been made public.

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LONDON (AP) — Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications named Hideki Komiyama as its new top executive Tuesday as it announced that Miles Flint will step down for personal reasons.

Flint, who became president of the company in 2004 and helped bring the venture to profitability, will remain executive adviser to Komiyama, currently chairman of the board of Sony Electronics Inc., USA, and EVP Electronics Marketing and Sales Strategies of Sony Corp., Japan, until the end of the year.

Komiyama will take up his position Nov. 1.

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ATLANTA (AP) — The Home Depot Inc. said Tuesday it expects to repurchase 289.6 million of its shares for $10.7 billion as a result of a tender offer, a little less than halfway towards its goal of buying back $22.5 billion in stock.

Preliminary results of the tender offer that ended Friday indicated the nation's biggest home improvement store chain expected to repurchase the shares at $37 per share, using about $8 billion in net proceeds from its sale of HD Supply and $2.7 billion in cash, said spokeswoman Paula Drake.

Drake said the final results will be released next week.

Because Atlanta-based Home Depot decided to use cash in the tender offer, the company did not utilize a $2 billion credit line it set up in connection with the tender offer, Drake said.

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BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — Growth in the 13 nations that use the euro narrowed to 2.5 percent in the second quarter of 2007 from waning demand in the building sector during the spring, the EU's statistical agency said Tuesday.

It was the slowest rate of growth in a year.

In the three months ending June 30, Eurostat said the euro currency area grew just 0.3 percent from the first quarter, largely due to a dramatic drop in the building trade after it soaked up work during an unusually mild winter and because of diminished investments.

There was stronger household spending, however, and exports were strong — even as the euro currency became more expensive for traders using U.S. dollars.

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BEIJING (AP) — The iPhone can be bought in China, even though Apple Inc. isn't selling it there and the gadget doesn't function properly despite costing twice as much as in the United States.

Enthusiasts willing to pay 8,800 yuan ($1,170) can buy the iPhone at electronics markets in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the computer and electronics newspaper Dian Nao Bao reported in its Monday editions.

In the United States, the combination cell phone-iPod media player can be had for as little as $499. The Chinese version can make calls and send text messages, but it can't receive calls. The voicemail function also doesn't work.

Apple is currently selling the iPhone only in the United States, where it's restricted to AT&T Inc.'s cellular network. Last month, hackers successfully unlocked the device so it could be used on other carriers.