U.S. Stocks Tip Lower at the Open

Equities in New York start the day before a long holiday weekend in the red as oil resumes its upward ways and the dollar slides.
By Sarina Penn ,

Updated from 7:56 a.m. EDT

Stocks in the U.S. slumped at the open Friday as investors took their cue from the resumption of climbing oil prices and unloaded equity positions ahead of a three-day holiday weekend. U.S. markets will be closed Monday in observance of Memorial Day.

The

Dow Jones Industrial Average

was losing 59 points to 12,567, and the

S&P 500

gave up 5 points at 1389. The

Nasdaq Composite

sank 11 points to 2454.

The declines came as crude oil took back some of Thursday's losses, which had worked minimally to deflate some of its stunning climb over the past few weeks. Futures were rising $1.55 to $132.36 a barrel.

Gold futures were adding $8.70 to $927 an ounce. The U.S. dollar was back on a downward track, losing 0.4% against the euro to $1.5758 and fetching just 103.31 yen, a 1% tumble from the prior settlement.

Investors were also girding for new data on the ravaged housing sector, with the National Association of Realtors due to release its April existing home-sales data at 10 a.m. EDT.

Last time out, the major averages turned out some thinly-traded gains as traders attempted to dust themselves off following a brutal couple of days for stocks. At the end of the day, the Dow was up 24 points to 12,626, and the S&P rose 4 points at 1394. The Nasdaq tacked on 16 points to 2465.

On the corporate side in the new session, striking workers at

American Axle

(AXL) - Get Report

-- the main parts supplier to automaker

General Motors

(GM) - Get Report

-- voted to accept a new employment contract and return to work next week. The strike had lasted about three months and forced GM to idle several of its manufacturing plants.

GM shares were losing 1.7%, and American Axle climbed 1.5%.

In earnings, information-technology firm

CA

(CA) - Get Report

issued bullish full-year guidance prompted by a

30% leap in bookings

compared with last year, even as a tax charge dragged fiscal fourth-quarter results well below analyst estimates. Shares were adding 4.7%.

Also, clothing retailer

Gap

(GPS) - Get Report

booked a

climbing profit

of $249 million, or 34 cents a share, but that fell short of the Street's consensus. Sales also slipped from a year earlier to a lower-than-expected $3.38 billion. Shares ticked up 7 cents at $18.36.

Aeropostale

(ARO)

, another apparel seller, edged ahead of last quarter's bottom-line consensus as the company achieved sizable year-over-year gains in both earnings and revenue. Still, the stock was off 3.5%.

Treasury prices were rising. The 10-year note climbed 11/32 in price to yield 3.87%, and the 30-year bond jumped 22/32 in price, yielding 4.58%.

Markets abroad were mostly falling. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added 0.2% overnight, but the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slid 1.3%. Among European bourses, the FTSE 100 slumped 0.3% and Germany's Xetra Dax was off 0.4%. The Paris Cac surrendered 0.8%.

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