NEW YORK, June 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened lower Friday as investors meditated on the country's worse-than-expected housing starts data.
U.S. privately-owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,092,000, notching the lowest level in eight months, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
This is 5.5 percent below the revised April estimate of 1,156,000 and 2.4 percent below the May 2016 rate of 1,119,000. ' In other economic news, the University of Michigan June consumer sentiment survey will be released later in the morning.
In corporate news, Amazon announced Friday that it plans to acquire Whole Foods Market for 42 U.S. dollars per share, in a deal valued at 13.7 billion dollars.
Shares of Amazon jumped over 2 percent in early trading following the announcement, while shares of the latter spiked over 27 percent.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 11.38 points, or 0.05 percent, to 21,348.52. The S&P 500 edged down 0.84 point, or 0.03 percent, to 2,431.62. The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 15.10 points, or 0.24 percent, to 6,150.40.
On Thursday U.S. stocks ended lower as investors continued to digest the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates by a quarter point. Enditem
