Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday, as investors eyed an upcoming report on U.S. consumer sentiment, while ongoing concerns over tensions between Russia and Ukraine dampened market sentiment.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow 30 declined 0.50%, the S&P 500 slid 0.37%, while the NASDAQ Composite retreated 0.72%.
Market participants were eyeing upcoming U.S. data after a report on Thursday showed that U.S. durable goods orders rose more than expected in March, fuelling optimism over the strength of the country's economic recovery.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious amid renewed tensions in Eastern Europe, after Ukrainian troops killed several pro-Russian rebels on Thursday, and Russian troops started military exercises close to its border with Ukraine.
In response, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington was drawing closer to imposing more sanctions on Moscow.
In the tech sector, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) declined 0.64% and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) dropped 0.79%, while Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:ADBE) lost 0.63% and 0.76% respectively after the four companies agreed to pay $324 million to settle an employee lawsuit over claims they conspired to suppress salaries by not recruiting one another’s workers.
Among energy stocks, Chevron (NYSE:CVX) edged up 0.06% after announcing plans to run higher-sulfur Alaskan and Middle Eastern crudes when it completes work at Northern California’s largest refinery in 2016.
In earnings news, Ford Motor (NYSE:F) reported results below market expectations, sending shares in the automaker down 3.12%.
Late Thursday, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) posted earnings of 23 cents a share, matching market expectations, while revenue was higher at $19.74 billion. Shares were still down 7.55% at the open of the U.S. trading session.
On the upside, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) jumped 1.83% after saying that income in the fiscal third quarter was $5.66 billion, or 68 cents a share, beating the average analyst estimate of 63 cents. Sales were $20.4 billion, matching projections.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL), Moodys (NYSE:MCO) and State Street (NYSE:STT), scheduled to report quarterly results later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply lower. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 dropped 0.73%, France’s CAC 40 slid 0.60%, Germany's DAX tumbled 1.11%, while Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.30%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng plummeted 1.50%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.17%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release revised data on consumer sentiment.