In the first five minutes of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 42.31 points (0.33 percent) to 12,734.78.

The S&P 500-stock index fell 2.90 (0.21 percent) to 1,353.88, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 5.21 (0.18 percent) to 2,903.26.

"After posting a solid rally on Friday as financials-sector earnings exceeded expectations, US stocks are seeing some pressure in early action in the wake of an unexpected decline in domestic retail sales for June," Charles Schwab & Co analysts said shortly before the market opened. US stocks broke a six-day losing streak Friday, helped by better-than-expected quarterly earnings results from banks JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

The Dow leaped 1.6 percent, the S&P 500 added 1.7 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.5 percent.