U.S. stocks fell in early trading on Thursday as a sharp decline in Apple's (O:AAPL) shares weighed on the three major indexes.
Apple was down 2.1 percent at $107.9 at 10:06 a.m. ET, erasing opening gains for U.S. stocks.
Global markets were upbeat after data from China was not as bad as feared and investors awaited a barrage of U.S. data.
Factory activity in China shrank again in September, leading some investors to believe that the government will be more aggressive in its measures to boost the health of the world's second-largest economy.
Global investors will be looking to put a bruising quarter behind them – U.S. stocks posted their worst quarter in four years, while the Shanghai stock market plunged about 25 percent.
"Historically, the third quarter tends to be a difficult quarter and the fourth quarter tends to be the best quarter of the year," said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) in Austin, Texas.
Investors will be parsing data released this week, with the crucial non-farm payroll numbers due on Friday, for clues on the timing of an interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Data showed the number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits rose modestly last week.
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