U.S. Stocks Open Lower

By Saumya Vaishampayan And Chris Dieterich 

U.S. stocks edged lower Monday, as downbeat signals from China helped push back the Dow Jones Industrial Average from last week's all-time high.

The Dow slid 26 points, or 0.1%, to 17256 in early trading. The S&P 500 shed five points, or 0.3%, to 2005 and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 20 points, or 0.4%, to 4560.

The Russell 2000 index of small companies fell most, dropping 0.8%.

The market's cautious tone began overnight, after China's financial minister said that the world's second-largest economy faces pressure, but that economic stimulus isn't likely.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index dropped 1.4%, while Japan's Nikkei fell 0.9%.

Concern about Chinese growth has ramped up of late after data showed the country's industrial output growth slowed to its lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis. On Tuesday, investors will get an initial read on Chinese manufacturing activity in September from HSBC.

Over the weekend, finance leaders from the world's biggest economies said current global growth was "uneven" and remained at a pace below the level needed to generate adequate jobs growth, which traders said also weighed on the markets.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.3% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 0.7%.

Alibaba Group declined 3% in early trading on Monday after the Chinese e-commerce company's shares soared 38% in its Friday initial public offering.

Apple added 0.8% the company announced that it sold more than 10 million of its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices over their first weekend, topping last year's total.

Many investors say the outlook for stocks remains positive despite Monday's soft trading. Stocks gained last week as the Federal Reserve reaffirmed its commitment to keeping interest rates low as the economy continues to recover.

"From an economic perspective, things are shaping up pretty well," said Dan McMahon, director of equity trading at Raymond James. Later Monday morning, existing home sales are expected to have risen 1% in August to 5.2 million, according to a survey of economists by The Wall Street Journal. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield fell to 2.573% from 2.589% late on Monday. Treasury yields move inversely with prices.

In commodity markets, crude-oil futures declined 0.3% to $91.44 a barrel. Gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,213.60 a troy ounce.

In deal news, German pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA, which isn't affiliated with U.S. company Merck & Co., said Monday it agreed to acquire Sigma-Aldrich Corp. for $17 billion. Shares of Sigma-Aldrich rose 34% in trade.

Germany's Siemens AG said it agreed to acquire Dresser-Rand Group Inc., a U.S. oil-equipment maker, in a deal worth $7.6 billion, or $83 a share in cash. Shares of Dresser-Rand Group rose 2.6%.

EMC Corp. is considering options that could include a merger, The Wall Street Journal reported. EMC is under pressure to break up from hedge fund Elliott Management Corp. EMC shares added 1%.

Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at [e-mail] and Chris Dieterich at [e-mail]