NEW YORK - STOCKS saw fresh selling pressure at the opening on Thursday as a series of weak economic reports hurt sentiment and investors turned cautious about the latest government stimulus efforts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 154.52 points (1.82 per cent) to 8,324.95 in the first trades as blue chips pulled back from three straight winning sessions.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 15.38 points (1.05 per cent) to 1,449.35 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index retreated 16.02 points (1.87 per cent) to 841.37.

The market reacted to a series of dismal US economic reports, including one showing consumer spending dropped 1.0 per cent in October, the steepest fall since September 2001.

The Commerce Department also said orders for big-ticket durable goods fell a whopping 6.2 per cent in October, a further bad sign for manufacturing.

A separate report said new claims for unemployment benefits rose to a fresh 16-year high. Claims in the week to November 22 increased by 14,000 to 529,000, a sign that employers as well as consumers are retrenching from the financial and economic storm.

Taken together, the reports paint a picture of an economy sinking deep into recession, said Marisa DiNatale at Economy.com.

'Availability of credit continues to be a major detriment to both consumer and business spending, and investment and consumption cannot bounce back until credit starts flowing again,' she said.

Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com said the market was somewhat cautious in the face of the latest massive stimulus measures announced in the United States and Europe to get credit flowing.

'The problem at the moment with all of the stimulus is that it is creating a feeling of unease that governments around the globe are behind the curve in trying to reverse the effects of the financial crisis,' he said.

'Accordingly, there are concerns that the slowdown will run deeper and longer than expected.' -- AFP