US open: Stocks head south amid concerns over global economy
US stocks opened lower on Monday as truncated trade talks and weak data out of Europe left market participants worried about the state of the global economy.
At 1530 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.14% at 26,897.47, while the S&P 500 was trading 0.09% lower at 2,989.39 and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.15% to 8,105.31.
Sentiment took a hit after trade talks between the US and China were cut short. Chinese officials described the discussions as "constructive" and said both sides would remain in contact.
US President Donald Trump said China would be increasing its purchases of US agricultural products as part of the bilateral trade deal but the early end to the talks was seen by some investors as an indication that the two nations were, in fact, no closer to finalising a trade deal.
Earlier, the eurozone manufacturing PMI for September came in at 45.6, down from 47.0 the month before and well below an expected reading of 47.3. European stocks fell broadly on the weak data.
Moving back stateside, the US manufacturing sector hit a five-month high in September and the services sector grew at its fastest pace in two months, according to IHS Markit.
However, IHS cautioned that the manufacturing data still remained among the weakest since 2016 and that "prospects also look gloomy", with inflows of new business down to the lowest level seen in a decade.
Elsewhere on the data front, the Chicago Fed's national activity index for August moved into positive territory after sinking below zero in July.
The index came in at 0.10, up from -0.41 a month earlier as all four broad categories that make up the index grew month-on-month. However, three of the four categories did negatively contribute to the figure.
Federal Reserve heads John Williams, James Bullard and Mary Daly will all address the public throughout the course of the day.