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New York - Wall Street stocks dropped in early trade on Monday following a weak report on Chinese manufacturing ahead of a busy week of US data.
About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17 090.35, down 75.60 points (0.43%).
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 7.99 (0.40%) to 1 987.00, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 42.56 (0.92%) to 4 592.68.
The major US indices lost more than 2.5% last week on worries about the strong dollar and falling oil prices, among other things. US stocks opened higher on Monday, but quickly veered into negative territory.
British banking giant HSBC said its final purchasing managers index (PMI) for Chinese manufacturing stood at 49.7 in January, up from 49.6 in December, but below the 50 benchmark that separates growth from contraction.
Shanghai stocks tumbled 2.56% on the news.
A series of closely watched US economic data releases culminates with the January jobs report Friday.
Dow component ExxonMobil gained 0.7% as fourth-quarter earnings were $1.56 per share, 22 cents above analyst expectations. Earnings fell 21.3% to $6.6bn due to lower oil prices and lower petroleum output.
Food distributor Sysco fell 1.9% after it announced a package of divestitures as it seeks regulatory approval of its acquisition of US Foods. Analysts said the divestitures may not be sufficient to win approval from the US Federal Trade Commission for the deal.
Ecommerce company Pitney Bowes slumped 11.5% as it projected 2015 earnings of $1.85-$2.00 per share. Analysts had forecast $1.99 per share.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 1.69% from 1.64% on Friday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.27% from 2.23%. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
