File photo: VCG

NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday, as the market was dampened by an unexpected fall in U.S. retail sales in September, stoking worries over a potential economic downturn in the country.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 44.75 points, or 0.17 percent, to 26,980.05. The S&P 500 decreased 5.83 points, or 0.19 percent, to 2,989.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 23.88 points, or 0.29 percent, to 8,124.83.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors traded higher around market opening, with the health care sector up 1.76 percent, leading the winners.

More than half of the blue-chip stocks in the Dow extended losses around the opening bell, with shares of UnitedHealth Group and Microsoft down over 1.3 percent and 1.25 percent respectively, leading the laggards.

Yet the continuing release of stronger-than-expected earnings results from a batch of corporates has given the market a leg up, with shares of Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon up over 3.1 percent and nearly 2.5 percent respectively.

On the economic front, U.S. retail and food services sales for September declined 0.3 percent to 525.6 billion U.S. dollars from the previous month, marking their first retreat in seven month.

The disappointing reading came as household spending pulled back primarily on building materials, motor vehicles and gasoline, according to the U.S. Census Bureau on Wednesday.