U.S. stocks lower on weak data, growth worries; Dow Jones down 0.47%

Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday, after the release of disappointing U.S. manufacturing data and as global growth concerns continued to weigh on market sentiment.

During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.47%, the S&P 500 index shed 0.63%, while the Nasdaq Composite index declined 0.53%.

In the U.S., data showed that the Empire State manufacturing index fell to 3.1 in April, from a reading of 9.2 the previous month, compared to expectations for a decline to 7.0.

Market sentiment weakened earlier, as official data showed that the Chinese economy expanded by 7.7% year-on-year in the three months to March, down from 7.9% in the fourth quarter and undershooting expectations for 8.0% growth.

Separate reports showed that Chinese industrial production also came in below expectations, while retail sales rose slightly more than forecast.

The data reinforced concerns over the outlook for global growth after data on Friday showed that U.S. retail sales fell 0.4% in March, the largest decline in nine months.

Commodity-linked stocks were broadly weighed by global growth worries. Shares in Exxon Mobil tumbled 0.98% and Chevron plummeted 1.52%, while Iamgold and Kinross dove 10.92% and 9.18% respectively, as gold prices dropped.

In the auto sector, General Motors declined 0.71% and Ford Motor retreated 1.42%, after the two largest U.S. automakers agreed to jointly develop a new line of nine- and 10-speed automatic transmissions.

On the upside, Thermo Fisher Scientific surged 4.47% amid reports it was nearing a deal to buy genetic testing equipment maker Life Technologies for close to USD13 billion, marking what would be one of the year's biggest corporate takeovers.

The news sent shares in Life Technologies up 7.79% at the open of the U.S. trading session.

Financial stocks added to gains, as shares in JP Morgan added 0.10% and Goldman Sachs advanced 0.66%, while Bank of America and Citigroup jumped 0.74% and 2.32% respectively.

Earlier in the day, Citigroup topped earnings and revenue expectations, thanks to improvements on loans and credit spreads.

Elsewhere, Sprint Nextel soared 16.24% after Dish Network offered to acquire the company for USD25.5 billion in cash and stock.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 declined 0.45%, France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.67%, Germany's DAX dropped 0.52%, while Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.84%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged 1.43%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index retreated 1.55%.