US: Stocks mostly down; S&P 500 retreats from record

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks opened mostly lower on Friday ahead of a long holiday weekend as traders awaited a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on the US economic outlook.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 18,258.84, down 26.90 points (0.15 per cent).

The broad-based S&P 500 retreated from Thursday's record, falling 3.74 (0.18 per cent) to 2,127.08, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.46 (0.01 per cent) at 4,529.82.

Investors are hoping that Fed Chair Yellen's speech in the afternoon will deliver insights into when the central bank will raise near-zero interest rates, now generally expected in September at the earliest.

Markets will be closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.

AFP