US: Stocks open lower

[NEW YORK] US stocks opened lower Monday as a big decline in Chinese industrial profits offset news of Alcoa's corporate split and a big merger between energy pipeline companies.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 16,181.61, down 133.06 points.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 16.86 to 1,914.48, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 42.54 to 4,643.96.

Profits at a range of large Chinese industrial companies declined by almost nine per cent last month compared with the same period in 2014, the country's statistics office said. That marked the biggest drop in four years.

Aluminum company Alcoa rose 2.4 per cent after announcing it would split into two companies. Energy Transfer Equity will acquire the Williams Companies for about US$37.7 billion, to create a giant in US oil and gas pipelines, the companies announced.

AFP