Wall Street opens lower on China reluctance to buy US bonds

US stock indices opened the third session of the week lower but still near record highs, after reports indicated that China is considering a cut in purchases of US treasury bonds, weighing on the dollar and boosting long-term treasury yields to 10-month highs. 

Earlier US data showed import prices slowed down to 0.1% from 0.8% in November, missing expectations of 0.4%, while wholesale inventories rose 0.8% in November, compared to a 0.5% dip in October. 

As of 03:29 GMT, Standard and Poor's 500 fell 0.30%, or 8.24 points to 2,743.05, while Dow Jones shed 0.25%, or 64.64 points to 25,321.16. 

Tech-heavy NASDAQ slid 0.54%, or 38.45 points to 7,125.13.