US open: Stocks decline amid mixed Chinese data and FOMC-driven jitters

US stocks declined early on Monday as mixed data from China and the Federal Reserve's meeting later in the week weighed on investors' minds.

Shortly after 1500 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 77 points to 16,355.32, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were five and two points lower respectively.

Chinese data drags Asian stocks lower

Asian markets were dragged lower by a decline in Chinese stocks, after data on Sunday showed the country’s factory output and fixed-asset investment both missed forecast in August.

The National Bureau of Statistics said industrial production rose 6.1% in August compared to a year ago, falling short of analysts’ expectations for a 6.5% increase and following the previous month’s 6% gain.

Separately, retail sales climbed 10.8% in August, more than the forecast for a 10.6% rise and a 10.5% jump a month ago.

“With Chinese industrial production and retail sales rising, the numbers were relatively positive despite some missing estimates,” said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG.

“However, given the sheer amount of measures taken by the Chinese government and PBoC, it is clear that the positive impacts have yet to be felt.”

Elsewhere, European equities edged higher, while oil prices fell, as West Texas Intermediate lost 1.66% to $43.90 a barrel, and Brent shed 2.47% to $46.97 a barrel.

The dollar climbed 0.19 % against the euro and rose 0.33% against the pound but declined 0.57% against the yen, while gold futures climbed 0.14% to $1,104.80.

It’s a soft start to the week on the economic data front with no major reports scheduled for Monday, although investors will have plenty to digest later in the week.

The Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting ends on Thursday, when the US central bank will reveal whether it intends to hike interest rates or whether it plans to stay on hold.

“Muddying the waters further with respect to a rate rise has been a significant cooling in some of the rhetoric of some FOMC members in recent weeks, most notably the New York Fed’s Bill Dudley who said that a September rate rise was now “less compelling”,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

In company news, Apple climbed 1.55% after revealing it expects first-weekend sales of its new iPhone 6S to exceed last year’s debut of 10m units following "very strong” pre-orders. The iPhone 6S Plus has already sold out online as orders have exceeded in-house estimates.

Solera Holdings jumped 9.00% after the software company agreed to a $6.5bn takeover from an affiliate of Vista Equity Partners.

Going the other way, Alibaba slid 3.09% after a story published by Barron’s warned the Chinese e-commerce giant’s shares could fall 50%. Alibaba has responded that it takes “strong issue” with Barron’s reporting.