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New York - US stocks moved mostly lower on Friday as investors stayed cautious following Thursday's rout amid fears of a global economic slowdown.
About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 16 674.95, up 0.09%.
The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.11% to 1 926.05, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.76% to 4 345.03.
US stocks lost about 2% on Thursday after poor economic data from Germany stoked growth fears and overrode solid earnings reports from Alcoa and PepsiCo.
READ: German exports plunge amid global crises
Most overseas markets were lower on Friday, with the German DAX index off about 1.9%.
Traders fear the negative sentiment means "that the buy-the-dip trade, which has worked effectively for so long, may no longer be the trade that works," said Patrick O'Hare, analyst at Briefing.com.
Microchip Technology, a semiconductor company, sank 13.5% as it slashed its sales forecast for the upcoming quarter to $546.2m from the previous range of $569m to $575.9m. The company cited disappointing business activity, especially in China.
Other semiconductor companies fell, including Texas Instruments (-7.9%) and STMicroelectronics (-3.1%).
Discount-goods retailer Family Dollar lost 0.4% as fiscal fourth-quarter net income dropped 66% to $34.5m. The company, which will be bought by Dollar Tree in a pending deal, cited a "difficult competitive environment" and tough challenges facing low-income consumers.
Symantec, a specialist in online security, fell 2.5% after announcing it would split into two publicly traded companies, one focused on security and the other on information management.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury dipped to 2.32% from 2.33% on Thursday, while the 30-year dropped to 3.05% from 3.06%. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
