Wall Street dragged down by industrial, discretionary stocks

By Sruthi Shankar

REUTERS - U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday, extending losses from a day earlier, as losses in industrial and consumer discretionary stocks weighed.

Ten of the 11 major S&P indexes were lower, with the industrial sector's 0.41 percent fall leading the decliners.

Deere's 7.6 percent fall was the biggest drag on the sector after the farm equipment maker reported a second straight quarter of lower-than-expected sales.

Nike's 4.7 percent slide weighed the most on the S&P and the Dow, following dismal results from sporting goods retailers Foot Locker and Hibbett.

The S&P 500 posted its biggest one-day percentage loss in about three months on Thursday amid concerns over President Donald Trump's ability to legislate his pro-growth agenda.

Trump has alienated Republicans, corporate leaders and U.S. allies, while rattling markets with his comments since Saturday's violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, which came in the aftermath of a white nationalist protest against the removal of a Confederate statue.

Several business leaders have since resigned from his advisory councils and a White House official said plans for an infrastructure council had been dropped.

Adding to the woes were a speculation of a possible departure of National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, which was denied by the White House on Thursday.

At 9:41 a.m. ET (1341 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 39.72 points, or 0.18 percent, at 21,711.01 and the S&P 500 was down 6.44 points, or 0.27 percent, at 2,423.57.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 7.81 points, or 0.13 percent, at 6,214.10.

Earlier in the week, minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting showed officials were concerned about recent inflation readings that remain below the Fed's 2 percent target rate, clouding the path of interest rate hikes this year.

Dallas Fed Chief Robert Kaplan will speak at an event later in the day. Kaplan, a policymaker in the Fed's cautious camp, said on Thursday the Fed should be "very patient and judicious" as it considers whether to raise rates.

Economic reports on Friday include the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey data for August due at 10:00 a.m. ET (1400 GMT).

Shares of Estee Lauder were up 4.66 percent after the cosmetics maker's full-year profit forecast came ahead of estimates.

Applied Materials was up 3.5 percent after the company's quarterly profit beat estimates, helped by strong growth in its semiconductor and display businesses.

NYSE-listed shares of India's Infosys fell about 8 percent after chief executive, Vishal Sikka, resigned.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,844 to 726. On the Nasdaq, 1,727 issues fell and 656 advanced.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)