Wall St falls as data trigger slowdown worry

Wall Street stocks fell for a second straight session on Monday, with major indexes down more than 1 per cent after data in China and the US added to a spate of recent indications the global economy may be slowing.

China's economic recovery unexpectedly slowed in the first quarter, with the annual rate of growth in the world's second-largest economy easing back to 7.7 per cent from the 7.9 per cent of the previous quarter, below economists' forecast for an 8.0 per cent expansion.

Adding to concerns about a slowing global economy, the New York Fed's "Empire State" index of general business conditions fell to 3.05, from 9.24 in March, short of economists' forecasts for a smaller decline to 7 as new orders tumbled.

US stocks had dipped on Friday, partly due to weak retail sales and consumer sentiment reports, but still managed to notch their second-best weekly performance of the year with a 2.3 per cent gain.

"None of the economic data has been very good for the last couple of weeks, when you look at the whole scope of data it looks like we have been going into a slowdown here," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.

"I wouldn't say this is over yet, but there are enough indicators out there to really indicate that investors should approach this market with a degree of caution which doesn't seem to exist right now."

The market has been very resilient in its run-up to record highs hit last week. The declines on Monday put the S&P 500 on track for its first two-day losing streak in a month.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 129.49 points, or 0.87 per cent, at 14,735.57. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 17.39 points, or 1.09 per cent, at 1,571.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 45.08 points, or 1.37 per cent, at 3,249.86.