US: Stocks open lower

[New York] US stocks opened lower on Friday as the negative sentiment from Thursday's rout carried over amid fears of a global economic slowdown.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 16,652.28, down 6.97 points.

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 3.33 to 1,924.88, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 33.25 to 4,345.08.

US stocks lost about two per cent Thursday after poor economic data from Germany stoked growth fears and overrode solid earnings reports from Alcoa and PepsiCo.

Most overseas markets were lower on Friday, with the German DAX index off about 1.8 per cent.

Traders fear the negative sentiment means "that the buy-the-dip trade, which has worked effectively for so long, may no longer be the trade that works," said Patrick O'Hare, analyst at Briefing.com.

-AFP