By NBC News wire services
Updated at 12:13 p.m. ET: Stocks were lower Monday as the World Bank cut growth forecasts for East Asia, underscoring concerns about the global economic climate and corporate profits on the cusp of the kickoff of the quarterly earnings season.
The World Bank reduced its growth forecasts for the East Asia and Pacific region and said there was a risk the slowdown in China could worsen and last longer than many analysts have forecast.
China, the world's second largest economy, has been hampered by the euro zone debt crisis. Europe is one of China's largest trade partners.
"There is just a lot of uncertainty out there, so any little thing right now tends to be a bit of a drag. Some of it is China, some of it may be concerns about Europe again," said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.
The third-quarter earnings season will kick off on Tuesday with results from Dow component Alcoa Inc. Analysts expect Alcoa to report a breakeven quarter, down from a profit of 15 cents per share a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Recent earnings warnings from large multinationals such as FedEx Corp, Caterpillar Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co, which have cited weakness in Europe and China, have made investors cautious about corporate profits.
"Certainly there has been a lot of downward revisions in earnings in general. Some people are predicting that we may see an overall decline in earnings, so there may be some defensive posturing and profit-taking," Jankovskis said.
According to Thomson Reuters data through Friday, 91 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 have issued negative outlooks versus 21 positive preannouncements, for a ratio of 4.3, the weakest showing since the third quarter of 2001.
There are no economic events or S&P 500 companies scheduled to report earnings on Monday, and trading may be light due to the Columbus Day holiday.
The U.S. bond market is closed Monday for Columbus Day.
Apple Inc shares slid after China Labor Watch, a rights advocate group, said that a Foxconn plant in China that makes Apple's iPhone was crippled by a strike. Foxconn, a Taiwanese company, denied the report.
Health insurer UnitedHealth Group said it would buy a 90 percent stake in Amil Participacoes SA, Brazil's largest healthcare company, for about $4.9 billion.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc and American Express Co said they are teaming up to offer customers an alternative to debit and checking accounts with a product that allows deposits via smartphone and mobile bill-paying.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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