US stocks lower at midday

U.S. stocks, affected by weak import-export data out of China, slumped at midday Friday en route to ending five days of gains. The Dow Jones industrial average was off 24.27 points, 0.18 percent, to 13,140.92 in midday trading. The Nasdaq lost 8.76 points, 0.30 percent, to 3,009.69. The Standard & Poor\'s 500 was losing 2.54 points, 0.18 percent, to 1,400.26. The General Administration of Customs in China said the country\'s exports rose 1 percent for the year to $176.9 billion in July, plunging from 11.3 percent in June. Imports rose 4.7 percent to $151.8 billion for the year in July after a growth of 6.3 percent in June. Domestically, import prices for July dipped 0.6 percent from June, the Labor Department said. The 10-year U.S. treasury note yielded 1.657 in midday trading. Against the euro, the dollar was $1.2295 from $1.2305 Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was 78.25 from 78.58 Thursday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei closed at 8,891.44, off 87.16 points, or 0.97 percent. In London, the FTSE 100 closed at 5,842.11, down 4.40 points, or 0.08 percent.