NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined in early trading Monday, falling 167.62 points, or 0.31%, to 53,564.79 as of 9:35 a.m. EDT, as investors digested weaker-than-expected U.S. retail sales data and assessed the outlook for Federal Reserve policy.

The blue-chip index opened lower following a Friday close of 53,732.41, when it dropped 107.58 points, or 0.20%. That left the Dow down about 0.56% for the prior week, snapping a two-week winning streak and marking its largest weekly decline since mid-July. The index remains well above levels from a year earlier, up roughly 19% over the past 12 months and more than 11% year to date, though it has pulled back from a record close near 54,349 reached earlier in August.

Soft July retail sales figures released Friday showed a 0.6% month-over-month decline, missing economists' expectations of a 0.1% increase and representing the steepest drop since May 2025. The data, combined with recent softer readings on jobs and producer prices, prompted markets to scale back the probability of a September interest-rate increase by the Federal Reserve. Traders assigned a roughly 31% chance of a 25-basis-point hike next month, down sharply from near even odds a week earlier, according to CME........

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