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New York - US stocks dived in early trade on Friday, following a sell-off in European equities as worries about Greece's talks with creditors hung over markets.
About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17 876.48, down 228.29 points.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 19.01 to 2 085.98, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 59.70 to 4 970.70.
Negotiations between Greece and international creditors will resume Saturday in Brussels on reform requirements Athens needs to meet to receive its last payment of its bailout funds, the European Union said.
In Washington, top European officials were on Thursday forced to play down fears that the country was poised to exit the eurozone, after the IMF rejected suggestions that Athens could postpone its IMF loan repayment.
Dow component General Electric rose 0.3% as first-quarter operating earnings per share translated to 31 cents, a penny above analyst expectations. The strong industrial performance came as GE reported an overall loss of $13.6bn due to charges related to its planned sale of most of GE Capital.
American Express, another Dow member, sank 4.8% as it reported a 6% rise in first-quarter net income to $1.5bn and a three percent drop in revenues. Jefferies criticised an American Express plan to ramp up marketing spending to make up for the loss of a venture to provide exclusive charge cards at big-box chain Costco.
Oil-services company Schlumberger advanced 2.0% after announcing plans to cut an additional 11 000 jobs in response to lower oil prices and the pullback in oilfield investment.
Toymaker Mattel rose 1.2% as the company highlighted steps to turn around the company following a loss of $58.2bn in the first quarter. Barclays said it was encouraged at moves to cut costs and collaborate with partners outside the company. But Barclays warned that the "stock could get ahead of itself in the near term."
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 1.90% from 1.89% on Thursday, while the 30-year was flat at 2.57%. Bond yields and prices move inversely.
