Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday, as expectations for an early U.S. rate hike persisted after data showed that U.S. retail sales grew at the fastest pace in four months.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow 30 slid 0.30%, the S&P 500 declined 0.31%, while the NASDAQ Composite dropped 0.39%.
Official data showed that U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% last month, in line with expectations. Retail sales for July were revised to a 0.3% gain from a previously estimated flat reading.
Core retail sales, which excludes automobiles, increased by 0.3% in August, in line with market expectations and following a 0.3% gain in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.1% rise.
The positive data added to expectations for an early hike in U.S. interest rates after a study by the San Francisco Federal Reserve published on Monday indicated that central bank officials see rates rising sooner than markets expect.
The Fed was expected to cut its asset purchase program by another $10 billion at its upcoming policy meeting next week which would keep it on track for winding up the program in October, and to start raising interest rates sometime in mid-2015.
In the telecom sector, AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) inched up only 0.06% as a group of state attorneys general was reportedly examining whether the company's proposed takeover of satellite-television provider DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV) violates antitrust laws.
Among tech stocks, Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) slipped 0.19% after saying it plans to buy cloud-computing software developer Eucalyptus Systems in a move to boost the computer maker's businesses.
Also in M&A news, Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE:ADS) surged 3.04% after it agreed to buy Conversant Inc (NASDAQ:CNVR) for $2.3 billion, gaining technology to distribute advertising across the Internet and measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
The news sent shares in Conversant skyrocketing 30.85%.
Elsewhere, eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) tumbled 1.12% after the e-commerce company announced that it will start showing ads on its smartphone application almost two years after retreating from the mobile advertising market.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mostly lower. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 slipped 0.25%, France’s CAC 40 shed 0.34%, Germany's DAX retreated 0.60%, while Britain's FTSE 100 inched up 0.05%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.27%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.25%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release closely watched preliminary data on consumer sentiment.