U.S. stocks are falling after China protests spark growth worries

© Reuters.

By Liz Moyer 

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were falling in early trading as unrest in China sparked by protests against strict COVID-19 containment policies ignited worries about global growth.

At 10:20 ET (15:20 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 145 points or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.5%, and the NASDAQ Composite was down 0.5%.

Protestors took to the streets across China over the weekend in clashes over strict lockdowns to contain the spread of the virus. Disruptions from protests and lockdowns could have ripple effects through the manufacturing sector there. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares fell 1.8% after a report that production shortfalls for its iPhone Pro will follow disruptions at the Foxconn (TW:2354) plant in Zhengzhou.

Retail stocks were getting a boost from a busy holiday shopping weekend in the U.S., where consumers pushed Black Friday online sales to a record and where today's Cyber Monday sales are also expected to reach into the billions. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares rose 0.5%, and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) shares rose 1.9%. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) rose 1.3%.

It's a week filled with economic data reports, including the latest on job openings and private payrolls on Wednesday and the government's November jobs report on Friday. Also, investors will see another estimate for third quarter gross domestic product and personal consumption and spending data.

Oil was falling. Crude Oil WTI Futures was down 0.5% to $75.81 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude was down 0.7% to $83.07 a barrel. Gold Futures slipped 0.4% to $1747.