US: Stocks fall on Turkey tensions; Tesla drops

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks fell early Friday as the Turkish lira fell on the latest diplomatic frictions with the United States.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 per cent to 25,537.26.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.1 per cent to 2,838.49, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.3 per cent to 7,784.40.

Stocks have been volatile all week as markets have weighed the possibility of economic carnage sparked by with Turkey, which is mired in a fight with the United States over a detained American pastor.

The Turkish lira on Friday resumed a downward fall after rebounding slightly from historic lows over the last three sessions.

Tesla Motors sank six per cent on continued fallout from chief executive Elon Musk's efforts to take the electric automaker private.

In an interview with The New York Times, Mr Musk acknowledged exhaustion from overwork as regulators probe his statements about the plan on Twitter.

Among companies that reported earnings, Nordstrom surged 10.4 per cent, while Applied Materials slumped 8.6 per cent and Deere & Company dropped 1.8 per cent.

Wall Street stocks had risen strongly on Thursday following news of the resumption of trade talks between the United States and China but some analysts suggested on Friday that the rally was exaggerated.

AFP