New York--US stocks opened lower Thursday, following European equity markets downward on concerns over higher bond yields and slow progress in negotiations between Greece and its creditors.
Six minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17,968.34, down 107.93 points (0.60 percent).
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 12.03 (0.57 percent) to 2,102.04, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 27.35 (0.54 percent) to 5,071.88.
Equity markets in the US and Europe are "seeing broad-based pressure amid unnerved sentiment regarding the recent rally in bond yields," said a market note from Charles Schwab.
The 10-year US Treasury was at 2.34 percent, up from 2.10 percent Friday.
The prospect of a Greek debt default loomed ahead of a Friday deadline for the debt-wracked country to pay more than 300 million euros ($336 million) to the IMF .
"Greece's day of reckoning is nearly upon us and traders can't get out of the market fast enough," said David Madden, market analyst at IG trading group.
AFP
