Data published on Monday highlighted the weaknesses in China’s faltering economy, dragging down American depositary receipts in some of the country’s best-known companies ahead of the opening bell.
The iShares MSCI China exchange-traded fund dropped 1.1% in early trading. U.S. shares in online retailer Alibaba were down 1.6%, while rival JD.com fell 0.7% and search engine provider Baidu slid 1%.
The losses came after data showed that retail sales growth had slowed sharply in November, a sign that the world’s second-largest economy is struggling. Beijing has rolled out stimulus measures in recent months, but it will probably have to up the ante to revive stagnant growth.
