US: Stocks fall on China data, earnings

[NEW YORK] US stocks opened lower Monday following weak Chinese economic data and disappointing earnings from Morgan Stanley and some other companies.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17,156.58, down 59.39 points (0.34 per cent).

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 7.48 (0.37 per cent) to 2,025.65, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 11.13 (0.23 per cent) to 4,875.55.

Most Asian markets fell following Chinese government data that showed the economy grew 6.9 per cent in July-September, the slowest pace since 2009.

Morgan Stanley sank 6.5 per cent after third-quarter earnings came in at US$740 million, dropping more than 50 per cent from the year-ago period on weak trading results.

AFP