Title: U.S. Stocks Fall on Worries About Economic Slowdown in ChinaA

Aug 15, 2022 09:56AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

U.S. stocks fell Monday ahead of a big week of results from major retailers and after weak economic data from China heightened fears of an economic slowdown.

At 10:16 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 36 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 0.3%.

China's central bank unexpectedly cut lending rates. The world's second largest economy is struggling, with factory and retail activity slowed by COVID-19 shutdowns.

In the U.S., reports from retailers, including Walmart Inc., impacted the consumer sector after an unexpectedly strong jobs report for July and an inflation reading that showed prices cooled from June.

Federal Reserve officials will meet later this month at their annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and then again in September to decide on the direction of interest rates after raising their benchmark rate by 0.75 percentage points in both June and July.

The Fed will release the minutes of its July meeting this week.

Disney shares jumped after a report that Dan Loeb's Third Point had taken a new stake in the Walt Disney Company, suggesting a spin-off of ESPN. Loeb previously held a stake in Disney.

Exxon Mobil Corp shares fell more than 4% as oil prices collapsed. Other oil company stocks also fell, including Chevron Corp, down 3.5%.

Crude oil was crumbling. WTI crude oil futures fell 5% to $87.56 per barrel, while Brent crude fell 4.6% to $93.60 per barrel. Gold futures fell 1.2% to $1,792.