You're reading: Stocks down on global worries, weak retail sales

NEW YORK — Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street on worries that China and Europe are in worse shape than previously thought and that Americans are spending at a slower pace.

Central banks in China and Europe took
action on Thursday to bolster their flagging economies. Poor retail
sales for June offset some promising job numbers from the Labor
Department.

The Dow Jones industrial average is down 56 points to
12,888 in early trading Thursday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index
fell 4 points to 1,370 and the Nasdaq index gave up 2 points to 2,974.