US open: Stocks marginally lower amid weak data from foreign markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down 18.62 points on Monday, following the trend set by European bourses, which saw the FTSE and DAX lower as uncertainty surrounding Scotland’s future sent the pound tumbling to a 10 month-low of $1.6102.

The S&P 500 opened the day down by 0.12% to 2,005.02, while Nasdaq began the day 1 point up at 4,584.13

Morgan Stanley issued a new 12-month target for the S&P 500, above the 2,050 target it gave to its clients in a note on Friday. The new target represents a 5.8% upside.

“US indexes have seen rises over the past five weeks and now, having digested news that recent China trade data is weak and that Japanese gross domestic product (GDP) has shrunk at its fastest pace in over five years, the reality is that global economies aren't where they should be,” said Brenda Kelly, chief strategist at IG in a note on Monday.

Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions continued to be under close watch, particularly in Ukraine where a ceasefire between its forces and pro-Russian separatists was largely holding.

Having announced a $1.2bn deal to be acquired by Global Cash Access Holdings, Multimedia Games saw its share rose 29%, while Yahoo! Shares moved up 2% as Alibaba Group, China’s largest e-commerce firm of which Yahoo! owns 24%, said it would seek $66 per share, hoping to raise $24.3bn in an IPO.

Hyperion Therapeutics shares dropped 6.26% after the company announced it had stopped developing its diabetes treatment after it became aware of serious misconduct by some of its employees involving trial data.

Campbell Soup delivered a disappointing full-year profit forecast, indicating expectations of a “challenging” consumer environment as one of the reason behind its struggle and, as a result, its shares were down 2.58%.

Meanwhile, General Electric shares rose 0.36% as the firm announced it had reached an agreement to sell its appliances unit for $3.3bn to Sweden-based Electolux.

Brent crude futures fell below $100 a barrel, their lowest level in over 12 months, as a fall in monthly imports in China sparked worries about a slowing demand for natural resources.

Consumer credit data for July, due out at 15:00 ET (19:00 GMT) on Monday, is the only US report worth of note in what is an otherwise largely quiet data calendar until Friday, when retail sales data is released.