Wall Street opens lower as investors assess earnings, data

Wall Street opened lower as investors assessed earnings and data showed that US inflation barely rose in March as consumer spending remains tepid.

The Commerce Department said the personal consumption expenditures price index, excluding the volatile food and energy components, edged up 0.1% last month after an upwardly revised 0.2% increase in February.

"I think we are looking at a cautious trading day as the poor earnings season finally catches up, though oil could help smoothen some of the declines," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.

First-quarter earnings from S&P 500 components are expected to have fallen 6.1% from a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Of the 273 companies that have reported, 57% reported revenue above analyst expectations, compared with the long-term average 60%.

At 9:38 a.m. ET (1338 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was down 52.53 points, or 0.29%, at 17,778.23, the S&P 500 was down 3.91 points, or 0.19%, at 2,071.9 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.50 points, or 0.01%, at 4,804.79.

Seven of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors were lower with the health index's 0.85% fall leading the advancers.

Gilead Sciences fell 5.4% to $91.64 after reporting an 18% fall in first-quarter net profit.

Oil hit new highs earlier in the day and was poised for its biggest monthly gain in seven years as a weak dollar and falling US production soothed concerns about an excess of physical oil.

The dollar index was down 0.4% at $93.38, its lowest level since August.

Stock markets around the world were in the red - with the yen rallying to an 18-month high, signaling a broader risk aversion among investors - a day after the Bank of Japan's call to cap monetary stimulus rattled investors.

Oil majors Chevron was down 0.7% at $101.78, while Exxon was up 1.8% at $89.60, after reporting results.

Shares of Amazon jumped 11% to $663.85 after the company's quarterly results blew past analysts' expectations.

LinkedIn was up 5.6% at $130 after the operator of the online network for professionals raised its 2016 revenue and profit forecast.

TiVo rose 6.2% to $10 after digital entertainment guide provider Rovi said it will buy the company in a deal valued at about $1.1 billion. Rovi was up 10.3% at $19.09.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,317 to 1,279. On the Nasdaq, 1,188 issues fell and 958 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed 1 new 52-week high and 2 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 12 new highs and 9 new lows.