Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal the U.S. economy was ready for a rate hike. His statement weighed on stocks.

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported factory orders rose by 1.8% ($8.7 billion) in June to $478.5 billion. This gain offset the 1.1% decline in May, which was revised from -1.0%. Orders excluding transportation rose by 0.5% after the 0.1% decline reported previously.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 47.5 points, or 0.3%, to 17550.69. The S&P 500 declined 4.72 points or 0.2% to 2093.32. The Nasdaq Composite lost 9.84 points, or 0.2%, to 5105.55.

Apple shares lost 3.5% sagging below a 200-day Moving Average, one of the key trading levels.

This morning in Asia Hong Kong Hang Seng climbed 0.27%, or 66.36 points, to 24,472.48. China Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.27%, or 47.89 points, to 3,708.66. The Nikkei gained 0.48%, or 99.22 points, to 20,619.58.

Asian stocks posted mixed results. Chinese stocks fell one more time despite favorable data on the country's services sector. The Caixin/Markit PMI rose to 53.8 in July from June's reading of 51.8, reaching the highest level since August 2014. This is the 12th straight month of expansion.

Japanese stocks declined at the beginning of the session, but advanced later. Analysts believe that investors are waiting for U.S. employment data.