NEW YORK, March 22 — US stocks fell into the red early today, putting Wall Street on track to finish the week on a weak note as investors absorbed sombre news about the global economy.

The negative open threatened to wipe out the week’s gains on the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Ten minutes into the day’s trading, the Dow and broader S&P 500 were both down 0.4 per cent at 25,852.32 and 2,844.67 respectively.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq had fallen 0.3 per cent to 7,815.52.

"Another round of weak economic data in Europe has weighed on sentiment,” analysts and Briefing.com wrote — pointing to monthly manufacturing surveys for France and Germany, which fell further into contraction.

Meanwhile, a rally on bond markets further weakened US Treasury yields, bring the so-called yield curve closer to inversion, a point which economists say is often a reliable indicator that a recession is coming.

Shares in US aviation giant Boeing, which weighs heavily on the Dow, were down nearly a full percentage point after an Indonesian air carrier became the first to cancel an order of its previously top-selling 737 MAX aircraft in the wake of recent fatal crashes.

Meanwhile, fellow Dow member Nike was 3.9 per cent lower after posting disappointing North American sales along with earnings estimates released yesterday.

Investors were also waiting the results of a monthly industry survey of existing home sales. Economists expect the US housing market to recover from a recent slump as mortgage rates fall and supplies increase. — AFP