Media Stocks Drops First Day Of '16 Trading

(Reuters) -- U.S. stocks began 2016 sharply lower on Monday, with the Dow marking its worst start to a year since 2008, after weak Chinese economic data fanned fears of a global slowdown.

Indexes partly recovered late in the session, following a turnaround in oil prices that caused energy shares to cut losses. At its low for the day, the Dow was down 467 points and was headed for its worst first-day percentage drop since 1932.

Surveys showed factory activity in the world's second-largest economy shrank sharply in December, sparking a 7-percent slide in Chinese shares that triggered a trading halt. Adding to investors' worries, China's central bank fixed the yuan at a 4-1/2 year low, further weakening it against the dollar.

The selloff was widespread but not as deep as the slide caused by worries of a China-led global slowdown in August, when the Dow tumbled more than 1,000 points at one point.

Among media stocks, Netflix fell nearly 6%.

AMC Network, Crown Media, The Walt Disney Co., and 21st Century Fox were all down more than 2%.

CBS, Comcast, Discovery, Scripps Networks Interactive, Time Warner and Viacom were all off more than 1%