Wall Street ends hot streak and opens lower amid China growth slowdown
Wall Street fell from last week’s record highs at Monday’s open amid concerns about the impact of the crisis in Afghanistan and after China missed expectations on a range of data, signalling that its economy was slowing down.
The S&P 500 slid down 0.4 per cent from Friday’s all-time high of the year, while the Dow Jones sank lower by 0.6 per cent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq ticked down 0.3 per cent.
In China, another wave of coronavirus infections from the delta variant has weighed on economic recovery, as new data published on Monday showed growth in the world’s second-largest economy had slowed across industrial, consumer and investment activity in July.
Industrial production rose 6.4 per cent year-on-year in July, according to the data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, missing market expectations of 7.8 per cent. Retail sales were similarly low.
As chaos ensued in Afghanistan, where Taliban militants took control of the country at the weekend, concerns over market stability grew, knocking down oil prices as well.
Global benchmark Brent crude fell 1.2 per cent and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate slid by 1.4 per cent at $67.48 a barrel.