US stocks drop on weak Chinese industrial profits

US stocks dropped early Monday on a big decline in Chinese industrial profits, but Alcoa shares surged after announcing a corporate split to better focus operations.

About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 16,161.50, down 153.17 points (0.94 percent).

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 21.69 (1.12 percent) to 1,909.65, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 65.27 (1.39 percent) to 4,621.23.

Profits at a range of large Chinese industrial companies declined by almost nine percent last month compared with the same period in 2014, the country's statistics office said. That marked the biggest drop in four years.

Aluminum company Alcoa rose 2.9 percent after announcing it would split into two companies.

Energy Transfer Equity said it will acquire the Williams Companies for about $37.7 billion, to create a giant in US oil and gas pipelines. Williams fell 7.9 percent, while Energy Transfer slumped 9.7 percent.

Pharmaceutical companies were weak, with Dow member Pfizer down 1.6 percent, Allergan 3.8 percent and Gilead Sciences 3.2 percent.

Apple fell 1.7 percent despite announcing it sold 13 million new iPhones over the weekend in a record-setting launch of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus in nine markets, including China.

Media General, which owns and operates television stations in the US, vaulted 23.6 percent higher on news it received an unsolicited buyout offer from Nexstar Broadcasting Group valued at about $4.1 billion. Nexstar rose 3.2 percent.

Upscale grocery chain Whole Foods Market lost 0.6 percent after announcing it would cut 1,500 jobs. The company said most of the cuts will come from attrition.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.14 percent from 2.167 percent Friday, while the 30-year dropped to 2.93 percent from 2.96 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.