US open: Equities get week off to a bad start amid disappointing earnings and poor Chinese data

US stocks declined on Monday, as disappointing Chinese data and a series of unimpressive earnings report did little to lift morale among investors.

Shortly before 1500 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 72 points to 17,143.75, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were nine and 15 points lower respectively.

Chinese data disappoints

Asian stocks began the week on a mixed note, as data released on Monday showed the Chinese economy expanded at its slowest pace in six years.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics said gross domestic product rose 6.9% in the third quarter compared with 7% in the first two quarters.

This was better than the 6.8% forecast by economists but still the worst rate of growth since the first quarter of 2009.

“Today’s data suggest that while the official GDP figures continue to overstate the actual pace of growth in China by a significant margin, underlying conditions are subdued but stable,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics.

“Looking ahead, our view continues to be that stronger fiscal spending and more rapid credit growth will limit the downside risks to growth over the coming quarters.”

Meanwhile, Chinese industrial production rose 5.7% in September, missing economists’ expectations of a 6% gain, while retail sales were up 10.9%, a touch ahead of the 10.8% increase expected.

Mixed earnings

Among the companies that reported quarterly earnings before the opening bell, Morgan Stanley slumped 6.30% after the banking giant said its third quarter profit fell 40% year-on-year and missed forecasts.

Oil giant Halliburton slid 1.22% after saying it swung to a third quarter loss driven by asset write-downs and acquisition-related expenses, as its business in North America continued to suffer from sluggish demand.

GoPro fell 1.26% after analysts at Wedbush Securities cut its target price on the stock from $76 to $50

Abercrombie & Fitch climbed 3.63% after analysts at Wunderlich Securities upgraded their rating on the stock from 'sell' to 'hold' and lifted their target price from $15 to $21, while Urban Outfitters slid 0.95% after the same brokerage downgraded the stock from 'buy' to 'hold'.

There was more positive news for Weight Watchers, which surged 60.82% after popular talk show host Oprah Winfrey announced she bought a stake in the company, while IBM will report after the close.

The economic calendar has little to offer on Monday, with a reading for the NAHB housing market index for September released at 1500 BST, while Richmond Federal Reserve’s president Jeffrey Lacker will speak at 1700 BST.

Elsewhere, European stocks edged higher, while oil prices declined, as West Texas Intermediate shed 2.34% to $46.18 a barrel, while Brent tumbled 2.58% to $49.19 a barrel.

The dollar was broadly flat against the yen and gained 0.21% against the euro but fell 0.28% against the pound, while gold futures slid 0.06% to $1,176.61.