Dow Jones slides as oil stocks fall

Reuters

(Open): The Dow Jones opened lower, with shares in oil giants Exxon and Chevron hit by disappointing results.

Low oil prices and weak refining margins cut second quarter profits at Exxon to $1.7bn from $4.2bn a year earlier. Exxon shares fell 3.7%.

Chevron shares fell 1.6% after it recorded a second quarter loss $1.47bn, its largest loss since 2001.

The falls contributed to the Dow Jones dropping 33.35 points, or 0.2%, to 18,423.00 in early trade.

Sentiment was also hit by weaker-than-expected US growth data. The US economy grew at an annual pace of 1.2% in the second quarter of the year, and the growth estimate for the first quarter was also revised down.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq index rose 2.03 points to 5,157.91, while the S&P 500 was barely changed at 2,170.07.

The Nasdaq was boosted by strong results from online retailer Amazon and Google owner Alphabet late on Thursday.

Alphabet shares rose nearly 4% after it reported second-quarter profits of $4.9bn, up from $3.9bn a year earlier.

Amazon's second quarter revenues rose 31% from last year to $30.4bn, and its shares were 1.3% higher.