Stocks Open Lower as Consumer Spending Falls

On the upside

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) received approval to list the company's Macau casino business on the Hong Kong stock exchange.   An initial public offering may raise as much as $2 billion.

Insurer Genworth (NYSE: GNW) reported a slim 3rd quarter profit which beat expectations.

Audio equipment maker Harman International Industries (NYSE: HAR) posted lower revenues and a smaller quarterly loss that beat expectations.

On the downside

CIT (NYSE: CIT) was tallying votes following a midnight Thursday deadline as the commercial lender worked toward a likely pre-packaged bankruptcy filing.

Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) posted a quarterly loss and announced a shrinking outlook for telecommunications equipment demand.

Barnes Group (NYSE: B) reported lower profits amid weakness in demand for aerospace and industrial components.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 8 points to 572.