US stocks fall on weak China data

NEW YORK—US stocks finished lower Wednesday with petroleum-linked equities especially weak following a report showing the feeblest Chinese factory activity in more than six years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 50.58 points (0.31 percent) to 16,279.89.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 3.98 (0.20 percent) to 1,938.76, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed an identical 3.98 (0.08 percent) to 4,752.74.

A preliminary reading of China’s purchasing managers index of manufacturing activity for September fell to 47.0 from 47.5 in August, the lowest reading since March 2009.

Petroleum-linked shares tumbled sharply as oil prices dropped, in part due to the weak China data. Dow member Chevron lost 1.5 percent, Apache 3.5 percent and driller Transocean 5.7 percent.

Dow member Boeing fell 1.7 percent, despite announcing a record order by a group of Chinese firms for the purchase of 300 aircraft worth $38 billion. The announcement was timed with President Xi Jinping’s visit to a Boeing plant near Seattle.

US-listed Chinese firms fell, including Internet giant Alibaba (-3.1 percent), Internet search company Baidu (-2.8 percent) and the electronics online retailer JD.com (-4.5 percent).

Facebook rose 1.1 percent on news that its Instagram photo-sharing platform passed 400 million users.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.15 percent from 2.14 percent Tuesday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.95 percent from 2.94 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.