US: Stocks dip on mixed earnings

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks opened lower on Thursday following mixed earnings and government data that showed the US economic rebound in the second quarter was slightly lower than expected.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17,712.21, down 39.18 points (0.22 per cent).

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 5.39 (0.26 per cent) to 2,103.18, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 13.38 (0.26 per cent) to 5,098.36.

Dow member Procter & Gamble fell 2.5 per cent after reporting a 79.8 per cent drop in quarterly earnings to $521 million on lower sales and a hefty charge on operations in Venezuela.

Food company Mondelez International jumped 4.2 per cent following better-than-expected earnings.

US gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 2.3 per cent in the April-June period, the Commerce Department reported, slightly below the 2.5 per cent consensus estimate.

However, Commerce revised up its estimate on the first quarter to growth of 0.6 per cent from a 0.2 per cent contraction.

AFP