NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stock futures were pointing to a lower open Monday as the global markets and commodities dropped as China grew less than anticipated in the first three months of the year.
The world's second-largest economy grew 7.7% in the first quarter compared to the same time last year, down from 7.9% in the fourth quarter and missing the average economist estimate of 8%, according to a Reuters poll.
"We have to agree: 7.7% growth is not a low growth rate ... for most nations; but China is not most nations," Dennis Gartman, an economist and trader, said in his daily Gartman letter. "China needs 9% GDP growth to absorb the tens of millions of Chinese still moving from the nation's western provinces to the East and toward the seacoast. 7.7% simply will not suffice and when the news hit the markets everything broke and broke hard." ...
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