US open: Stocks open lower as Chinese data weighs on sentiment

US stocks opened lower on Tuesday as traders returned to their desks after the Martin Luther King Jr holiday, with worries about a slowdown in China and some dire housing figures taking their toll on sentiment.

At 1530 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial was down 0.72% to 24,529.42, while the S&P 500 had moved 0.93% lower to 2,745.89 and the Nasdaq traded 1.12% softer at 7,077.08.

Investors on Wall Street got their first chance to react to data out of China on Monday which showed that economic growth slowed to 6.6% in 2018 - the slowest pace since 1990.

Also adding to the downbeat mood was the IMF's decision, the day before, to cut its global growth forecast for 2019 to its lowest level in three years.

Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "It would appear that investors took advantage of light bank holiday trade on Monday to lock in some profits following a very encouraging post-Christmas period."

"This comes as talks between US and Chinese officials appear to be progressing well, with the 90-day deadline a little over a month away. Trump may have denied that the US is considering lifting tariffs - following reports that Steve Mnuchin has suggested doing so in order to draw more concessions from China - but it would appear that there is a desire from within parts of the administration to get a deal done."

Elsewhere in Sino-US relations, Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper reported earlier that the US has told the Canadian government that it plans to formally request the extradition of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei.

Back in the US, the government shutdown moved into its 31st day as Trump and the Democrats remained at loggerheads.

As of 1530 GMT, the 10-year yield was 0.04% lower at 2.746% and the USD was trading 0.27% softer against the GBP at 0.7736.

West Texas Intermediate was 2.66% weaker at $52.37 a barrel, while Brent Crude was down 2.30% at $61.30.

In corporate news, Johnson & Johnson was trading 1.74% lower in early trade as its fourth-quarter sales beat expectations, while Travelers was 0.66% firmer after the release of its Q4 numbers.

Oilfield services company Halliburton was down 4.53% at the bell despite its quarterly profits and revenues surpassing analysts' expectations.

Earnings were still set to come from the likes of IBM and Advanced Micro Devices after the bell.

On the data front, existing home sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.99m in December - their lowest rate since November 2015.

Sales of previously-owned homes crashed in December, closing out an already poor year for housing on a dismal note, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Sales were down 6.4% for the month, and 10.3% lower year-on-year.

The full-year sales tally for 2018 of 5.34m was the worst year since 2015,.