US: Shares open lower

[NEW YORK] The Dow opened lower Friday following weak US second-quarter growth figures, but the Nasdaq was boosted by strong earnings from Amazon and Google parent Alphabet.

US growth came in at a tepid 1.2 per cent, according to official data, well below the 2.6 per cent analyst estimate. Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare called the figure "extremely disappointing."

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 18,423.44, down 0.2 per cent.

The broad-based S&P 500 lost less than 0.1 per cent at 2,169.34, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.1 per cent to 5,162.37.

AFP