Updated at 12:00 p.m. ET

Stocks declined Friday, yet trimmed losses midday, as worse-than-expected Chinese export data added to fears that the global economy is slowing.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) was down 14 points at 13,151. The S&P 500 ($INX) was down 2 points at 1,401. The Nasdaq Composite ($COMPX) was down 6 points at 3,012.

New data indicate that growth is slowing in China, affected by the debt crisis in Europe and the anemic growth in the U.S., as well as by domestic weakness. Investors still hope Beijing will soon step up its stimulus efforts, as the world relies on the country to help pull global growth out of its slump.

The report shows that the growth in overseas shipments from China ground to a near halt in July, with exports up just 1% from the same month a year earlier, far below expectations and well beneath the 11.3% in June. Import data were also disappointing, with an increase of just 4.7%, compared with 6.3% in June. Economists had expected growth of 8% and 7%, respectively. Another report showed much lower-than-expected local-currency lending.

European stocks were trading lower, and Asian markets finished Friday in the red. Commodities, oil and gold all fell on fears of slowing global demand. Corn prices, on the other hand, hit another record high.

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U.S. import prices also fell unexpectedly by 0.6% in July. That compared with a revised 2.4% drop in June, mainly because of declining oil prices. Oil prices also fell in July, though at a much slower rate. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected import prices to be unchanged. Export prices rose 0.5% in July after a 1.7% decline in the prior month.

An update on the U.S federal budget will be released at 2 p.m. ET. The report will give a snapshot of the nation's finances. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect it to show a deficit of $71 billion in July, higher than the $60 billion deficit in June.

Facebook (FB) is to obtain consent before sharing consumer information, FTC said as it approved the social network's privacy settings, Reuters reports.

Manchester United (MANU), the British soccer club, started trading Friday after raising $233.3 million in its U.S. initial public offering, pricing the shares below the marketed range. Shares remained relatively flat in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

J.C. Penney (JCP) posted a net loss of $147 million, or 67 cents a share, as sales decreased 23% to $3.02 billion. Excluding items, the adjusted loss was 37 cents. Analysts had projected a per-share loss of 25 cents on revenue of $3.2 billion. 

The Justice Department said Thursday that it won't bring charges against Golman Sachs (GS) or any of its employees for financial fraud related to the mortgage crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Yahoo (YHOO) shares fell as a regulatory filing showed new CEO Marissa Mayer has embarked on a strategy review that's rethinking a plan to return to shareholders the cash generated from a deal to sell its stake in Chinese internet company Alibaba. The stock has now been downgraded to "neutral" from "buy" at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

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Research In Motion (RIMM) shares climbed after Bloomberg reported that, according to two sources, the company's enterprise-services unit has attracted interest from IBM (IBM). No party has shown interest in buying all of RIM or the division that makes its phones, and no talks are under way, one source said.

Monster Beverage (MNST), the largest U.S. energy drink maker by volume sales, disclosed in a regulatory filing that an attorney general is investigating its Monster Energy drinks and ingredients, as well as advertising and marketing. The investigation is in an early stage.

Nvidia (NVDA) reported third-quarter earnings and sales that exceeded analysts' estimates on robust demand for processors used in tablet devices coming to market in the current quarter.

Fusion-io Inc (FIO) late Thursday reported strong fiscal fourth quarter results that handily beat profit estimates. It also projected strong growth over the next year.