By Mark DeCambre and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

Molson Coors up after deal news

U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday as weak Chinese trade data appeared to sour Wall Street sentiment. The early slump threatens to snap a seven-day win streak for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a four-day run-up for the S&P 500.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures sank 18 points, or 0.1%, to 17,113, led by early declines in UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) , down 1.9%, and Goldman Sachs Group (GS) , off about 1%.

The S&P 500 slipped about 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,015, weighed down by losses in consumer staples and industrials. Seven of the S&P 500's 10 sectors were in negative territory. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 11 points, or 0.2%, to trade at 4,826.

China's exports and imports fell in September (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-exports-imports-fall-in-september-2015-10-13) as world-wide demand stayed soft, highlighting how the world's No. 2 economy is struggling. The weak Chinese trade reading "led Asia to close in the red," with Europe and U.S. futures also lower, said Nour Al-Hammoury, chief market strategist at ADS Securities, in a note early Tuesday.

Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, cautioned that markets could experience a period of up-and-down trading as investors digest messages from Federal Reserve policy makers and global economic reports.

"We're near the end of the weakest time of the year for stocks and may see more choppiness over the next few days as we move through a transition phase", Cieszynski said in a Tuesday note. "Fed speculation may also impact markets with the next big decision just over two weeks away now," he said, referring to the Fed policy-making committee's two-day meeting beginning Oct. 27, when Fed officials will have another opportunity to consider raising interest rates.

On Monday, the Dow closed higher for a seventh day in a row for its longest winning streak of 2015 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-set-for-7th-day-of-gains-as-asian-stocks-soar-2015-10-12), while the S&P 500 finished up 0.1%, as investors have been heartened by the prospect of ultraloose monetary policy for longer.

In corporate action, shares of Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) soared nearly 10% as a proposed $104 billion mega beer-industry deal between (http://www.wsj.com/articles/sabmiller-ab-inbev-agree-on-deal-in-principle-1444717547?cb=logged0.8621699016075581) Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI.BT)(ABI.BT) and SABMiller (SAB.JO) (SAB.JO) moved closer to fruition.

Movers & shakers: Shares of Johnson & Johnson(JNJ)turned 0.7% lower even as the company posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.49 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/johnson-johnson-beats-earnings-expectations-raises-outlook-2015-10-13), above the FactSet consensus of $1.43, while also raising its outlook.

Earnings:

Intel Corp.(INTC), CSX Corp.(CSX) and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.(JPM) are among the companies slated to post quarterly results after the market's close.

Other markets:Most Asian markets dropped (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-shares-weaker-after-china-export-data-signals-slowdown-2015-10-13) after the soft Chinese trade data, though the Shanghai Composite ended slightly higher. Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-veer-toward-lowest-close-in-almost-two-weeks-2015-10-13) was trading more than 1% lower as the closely watched ZEW survey showed a drop in German economic sentiment.

Gold futures retreated, while oil futures turned higher and a key dollar index was little changed in early trade.

The U.S. economy: St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said in a speech early Tuesday that the Fed should gradually raise interest rates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-bullard-calls-for-gradually-edging-rates-higher-2015-10-13). He will be a voting member of the Fed's policy-making body in 2016.

A reading on small business optimism was little changed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/small-businesses-still-not-very-optimistic-nfib-says-2015-10-13) in September, edging up 0.2 points to 96.1. That is still below the 42-year average of 98. There are no top-tier U.S. economic releases scheduled for Tuesday.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 13, 2015 10:20 ET (14:20 GMT)

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