Stocks Sink at Open On Weak Data

U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Wednesday after a round of weak economic data. The Dow Jones industrial average lately fell 189.62 points, or 1.16%, to 16,125.57. The S&P 500 lost 21.77 points, or 1.16%, to 1,855.93. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 46.06 points, or 1.09%, to 4,181.11.

Manufacturing in the New York region slowed sharply in October, according to data released Wednesday. The New York Fed’s Empire State general business conditions index plunged to 6.2 in October after hitting a near five-year high of 27.5 in the prior month.

U.S. wholesale prices fell slightly in September as inflationary pressure in the nation’s economic pipeline continued to recede, the government reported Wednesday. The producer price index dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.1% – the first decline in more than a year – largely because of lower gasoline prices.

Retail sales in the U.S. dropped more than forecast in September, reflecting a broad-based pullback that signaled consumers took a breather.The 0.3 percent decrease followed a 0.6 percent August gain that was the biggest in four months, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) eked out a small profit for the third quarter as the company reported stronger than expected trading revenue and showed progress in controlling expenses even as results were weighed down by large legal charges. Bank of America reported a profit of $168 million, compared with a profit of $2.5 billion a year earlier.