US stocks open lower as data disappoint

The major US stock indices fell on Friday, after the release of lower-than-expected economic data, which fueled market's concerns about the coronavirus effects.

Data showed that the US retail sales index rose 1.2% in July, below forecasts of 2% vs. 8.4% in June.

Excluding energy and food, which are more volatile commodities, the US Retail Sales Index rose 1.9% last month, beating expectations by 1.3%.

While the core reading retail sales (excluding food and fuel prices) rose 1.9%, higher than forecasts of 1.3%.

The non-farm productivity index rose 7.3% in the second quarter, while industrial production rose 3%, slightly lower than forecasts of 3.1%.

As for stocks, Dow Jones fell 0.2% or 50 points to 27,846 as of 14:11 GMT, Nasdaq fell 0.1% or 16 points to 11,026, and S&P 500 fell 0.1% or 2 points to 3,371.