U.S. stocks open lower on soft data

U.S. stocks opened lower Friday as investors meditated on a batch of downbeat economic reports.

The U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand decreased 0.4 percent in October, seasonally adjusted, missing market consensus of a 0.2-percent gain, the Labor Department reported Friday.

On an unadjusted basis, the final demand index fell 1.6 percent for the 12 months ended in October, a record 12-month decline for this index, which was introduced in November 2009.

Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Commerce Department, advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for October increased 0.1 percent from the previous month to 447.3 billion U.S. dollars, also below market expectations.

Total sales for the August 2015 through October 2015 period were up 2.0 percent from the same period a year ago.

"Retail sales excluding the impact of gasoline sales have failed to rise meaningfully for the last three months, even as lower energy costs should leave more dollars in consumer hands," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 37.51 points, or 0.21 percent, to 17,410.56. The S&P 500 lost 5.33 points, or 0.26 percent, to 2,040.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 24.22 points, or 0.48 percent, to 4,980.86.

On Thursday, U.S. stocks suffered big losses as worries about a year-end rate hike and a plunge in oil prices weighed on market sentiments. Endi