Wall Street stocks Monday opened lower following disappointing German economic data as the market looked ahead to a two-day Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting that opens Tuesday.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 16,757.31, down 48.10 points (0.29 percent).
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 7.17 (0.36 percent) to 1,957.41, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 14.41 (0.32 percent) to 4,469.31
Equity markets in Britain, France and Germany all fell by at least one percent after the Ifo business climate index for Germany fell to 103.2 points in October from 104.7 points in September, the lowest level since December 2012.
Analysts also cited the reelection of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who is viewed as unfavorable towards business.
Investors are looking to Wednesday's Fed meeting to see if the central bank will follow through on its plan to end its bond-buying program and offer any additional comment on its expectations to raise benchmark interest rates in 2015.