Wall Street falls at open on global slowdown fears

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened lower in the first session of the year as weak data in Asia and Europe confirmed fears of a global economic slowdown while the U.S. government shutdown dragged on.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 268.85 points, or 1.15 percent, at the open to 23,058.61. The S&P 500 opened lower by 29.89 points, or 1.19 percent, at 2,476.96. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 128.37 points, or 1.93 percent, to 6,506.91 at the opening bell.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)