US stocks open mostly flat as dollar continues to soar

[NEW YORK] US stocks opened flat Friday as the US dollar climbed to its highest level in almost 14 years against other currencies.

Five minutes into trading, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was down less than 0.1 per cent at 18,895.81, the S&P 500 was virtually unchanged at 2,187.71. The tech-rich Nasdaq rose 0.1 per cent to 5,341.68.

The ICE dollar index hit its highest level since April 2003, with markets anticipating higher US inflation and interest rates in the near future.

Shares in clothing retailer Gap Inc sank 9.9 per cent after the firm announced a drop in third quarter profits Thursday of nearly 18 per cent on costs due to store closures outside North America.

Other clothing retailers also fell. Abercrombie & Fitch, which also reported downbeat quarterly results on falling sales, lost 11.6 per cent, and American Eagle Outfitters was fell 4.2 per cent.

AFP