US: Stocks drop as oil-linked shares tumble

[NEW YORK] US stocks opened lower on Friday with petroleum-linked equities especially weak due to a sharp drop in oil prices.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 16,255.35, down 75.05 points (0.46 per cent).

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 9.76 (0.50 per cent) at 1,942.53, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 25.00 (0.52 per cent) to 4,771.25.

US oil prices were down almost three per cent early Friday after Goldman Sachs slashed its price forecast for the commodity amid a global oversupply.

Dow member ExxonMobil fell 0.3 per cent, while EOG Resources lost 1.7 per cent and Apache tumbled 2.2 per cent.

AFP