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NEW YORK (Reuters) � U.S. stock investors will head into this week wondering if September will end as strongly as it began for the market, with manufacturing and personal income data among the top indicators on tap.

The data will be watched for further clues on whether the economic recovery is still on track and to see if the market's recent rally has support.

Friday's advance left the three major U.S. stock indexes with gains for the fourth week in a row, boosting investors' confidence that the upward move will continue.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index (.SPX) is up 9.5 percent since the end of August. Last week, its move above the 1,130 level on Monday represented a technical breakout that analysts said suggested further gains were likely.

If the rally holds, it will make September the best month for the S&P 500 since at least March 2000, and the best September for stocks since 1939, according to Reuters' data.

"Sentiment has turned sharply higher over the past few weeks after very bearish readings last month," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial, in Westport, Connecticut.

This week's data includes two manufacturing reports -- one from the Institute for Supply Management and another from the ISM-Chicago, better known as the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index. A Commerce Department report on personal income and spending is also on the agenda.

The last ISM manufacturing report "helped propel the markets higher," Sheldon said, recalling the S&P 500's gain of 3 percent on September 1, so "any disappointment could be a setback" for stocks.

OF FACTORIES AND PERSONAL FINANCE

Tepid demand amid a U.S. unemployment rate of 9.6 percent is expected to have caused a slowdown in manufacturing activity in September. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index probably dropped to 54.5 in September from 56.3 in August, according to a Reuters poll of economists. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

The week's data is also expected show moderate gains in personal income and consumer spending in August, consistent with views of an economy that is on a slow growth path, but not contracting. Both reports are due on Friday.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index will be released on Tuesday, followed by the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final September reading on its consumer sentiment index on Friday.

The final figures on second-quarter gross domestic product will be out on Thursday, with the Reuters poll forecasting growth at an annual rate of 1.6 percent -- matching the second, or preliminary, reading on the quarter's GDP.

On Friday, September domestic car and truck sales will be reported. A rise in total vehicle sales to an annual rate of 11.50 million units is seen versus August's 11.43 million.

READING THE S&P'S SIGNALS

The S&P 500's move above 1,130 last week let the broad index break out of its recent trading range.

Technical analysts are watching 1,173 as the S&P 500's next level of resistance. That level represents the high following the May 6 flash crash. Another level to watch is 1,220, the S&P 500's high for this year.

"What's so important about moving above a trading range is it signals a willingness to buy at higher prices. That type of evidence is supportive of further upside," said Chris Burba, a short-term market technician at Standard & Poor's in New York.

But "after such a huge run since late August, the odds of taking a breather here are increasing," he said.

For the past week, the Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) advanced 2.4 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 2.1 percent and the Nasdaq (.IXIC) climbed 2.8 percent.

For the year so far, the Dow is up 4.2 percent, while the S&P 500 has gained 3 percent and the Nasdaq is up 4.9 percent.

This week also marks the end of the third quarter and options analysts expect fund managers to try to pick up some of the quarter's better performers.

"A lot of option traders are anticipating window dressing, which is helping the winners of the last quarter, specifically Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Netflix (NFLX.O), Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and some material names, such as Freeport McMoRan (FCX.N) and Vale (VALE5.SA) (VALE.N)," said Steve Claussen, chief investment strategist at online brokerage OptionsHouse LLC in Chicago.

The earnings slate is light, with just a handful of S&P 500 companies expected to report results, including Jabil Circuit (JBL.N), Paychex (PAYX.O), Walgreen (WAG.N) and Family Dollar Stores (FDO.N).

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch, with additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos, Lucia Mutikani and Doris Frankel; Editing by Jan Paschal)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) � Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner faces a lonely campaign to make China's currency a major issue at the next Group of 20 summit as would-be allies shrink from confronting Beijing.

Pressured by U.S. lawmakers, Geithner vowed last week to mobilize countries at the November 11-12 summit in South Korea to press China for faster appreciation of the yuan.

Interviews with officials from G20 countries suggest that Geithner -- who has acknowledged that few countries are willing to confront China -- could be leading a posse of one in Seoul.

"The U.S. is more determined than the rest of the G20 to get something out of China on the yuan," a euro zone monetary official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"It's largely a bilateral matter with the rest looking on as spectators, either because they don't count enough or because they aren't very interested," the official said.

South Korean Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun ruled out the yuan as a G20 topic, saying the forum might take up exchange rates in general or their impact on the global economy.

"But aside from that, I do not believe that it is appropriate to have a discussion regarding the foreign exchange rate or level of a specific country," Yoon said in an interview with Reuters in Paris on Thursday.

Geithner's drive to make China's currency policy a G20 summit issue appears to be a way to buy time for President Barack Obama's administration as it deals with an angry Congress in the run-up to November 2 U.S. elections.

The Obama administration, and Geithner in particular, had largely avoided actions that would antagonize China in past G20 meetings. But it faces an increasing drumbeat of calls for action on the yuan from beleaguered Democrats who say a stronger Chinese yuan would bring relief to American workers.

In a move likely to increase tension with China, the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee on Friday approved a bill that would let the United States slap duties on goods from countries with undervalued currencies.

The bill may never become law, however, because it faces uncertain prospects in the Senate.

Since China's central bank in June said it would let the yuan fluctuate more freely, it has risen 1.8 percent -- accelerating the most as U.S. pressure mounted.

Many U.S. lawmakers believe that China keeps its currency undervalued by as much as 40 percent to stoke exports at the expense of U.S. jobs, a claim questioned by many economists.

BRIC SOLIDARITY, ASIAN DEPENDENCY

China can count on solidarity from its partners in the so-called BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia and India.

"I believe that this idea of putting pressure on a country is not the right way for finding solutions," Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told Reuters last week.

Brazil, he said, enjoyed good coordination with China and "we can't forget that China is currently our main customer."

Russia likewise enjoys its trading relationship with China, exporting raw materials and energy but not the manufactured goods that compete against low-cost Chinese goods. Moscow tends to speak only in general terms about currency flexibility.

"Russia is unlikely to back this," said Evgeny Gavrilenkov, chief economist at Troika Dialog in Moscow.

"Russia does not have a big trade relationship with China, and politically I do not think it is profitable for Russia to back this either," he said.

Visiting New York this past week for the U.N. General Assembly, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao flatly rejected any link between the level of the Chinese yuan and U.S. trade deficits.

China is increasingly assertive as its economic power grows -- all the more so in neighboring Asia.

It is home to five other G20 members, most of whom count China as their biggest trade partner.

"The rise of China, the increasing prominence of China, is a fact of life," said Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa.

"It is something that we must all embrace, and celebrate as a matter of fact, because Indonesia is benefiting as well with China's increasing economic prominence," he said.

Japan's recent intervention to push its own currency down from 15-year highs against the dollar makes Tokyo an unlikely standard-bearer for exchange rate rectitude and an awkward partner for any U.S. pressure on China, say analysts.

A second European monetary official predicted talk, but no walk at the G20 meetings.

"It's obvious that we talk about it, but that's as far as it goes. It's not on the agenda of Korea's G20 presidency and it won't be a major issue," said the official.

"China has basically been pretending to take significant steps on its currency for a long time, and I don't expect that to change for the time being," he added.

(Additional reporting by Toni Vorobyova in Moscow, Walter Brandimarte in New York, Doug Palmer in Washington and Daniel Flynn in Paris; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

LONDON (Reuters) � Buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR.N) has bought Norway software company Visma for an enterprise value of 1.2 billion pounds ($1.88 billion) from private equity firm HgCapital, the companies said on Sunday.

HgCapital, which will retain a 17.7 percent stake in Visma, said the sale will deliver a return of 3.7 times its investment. The return is in line with its recent sales of other accounting software businesses.

Visma provides business software and process outsourcing in Scandinavia.

HGCapital Trust (HGT.L), the listed investment trust which invests in HGCapital deals, will realize cash proceeds of 39 million pounds from the sale, it said in a separate statement.

(Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Louise Heavens)