Stocks opened lower on Wednesday as a larger-than-expected 2.5 percent drop in June new orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods revived worries that the economic recovery might be weak.

Falling commodity prices also weighed on shares of natural resource companies, and investors fretted about the impact of an overnight sell-off in Chinese stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 41.57 points, or 0.46 percent, at 9,055.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 5.85 points, or 0.60 percent, at 973.77. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 9.00 points, or 0.46 percent, at 1,966.51.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)

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