New York - Wall Street stocks opened sharply lower on Friday on worries about tumbling government bond yields in many countries and the upcoming British vote on whether to leave the European Union.
The losses in the US were not as great as in Europe, where markets in Frankfurt, Paris and London all shed at least two percent due in part to anxiety about the June 23 so-called "Brexit" vote in Britain.
Tumbling yields for government bonds as investors shun stocks for bonds are a sign of the "flight from risk," said FTN Financial analyst Chris Low.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17 881.30, down 0.6%.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.7% to 2 100.94, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.9% to 4 914.57.