US open: Stocks in the red as Amazon, Exxon retreat after earnings; GDP digested

US stocks edged lower in early trade on Friday, with Amazon under the cosh after disappointing earnings, as investors digested the latest reading on economic growth.

At 1520 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1% to 21,777.73, the S&P 500 was off 0.3% at 2,467.87 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq was 0.4% weaker at 6,358.33.

Shares in Amazon fell 3.2% after the company posted a 77% drop in second-quarter earnings late on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Exxon Mobil declined after its quarterly earnings fell slightly short of analysts' expectations, while American Airlines flew lower despite better-than-expected quarterly numbers.

Chevron advanced after saying it swung to a quarterly profit thanks to a resurgence in oil and gas production, while Merck nudged up after posting a jump in second-quarter earnings thanks to blockbuster growth for its cancer drug Keytruda.

On the data front, the latest figures from the Commerce Department showed the US economy grew a little less than expected in the second quarter.

Gross domestic product accelerated at an annual rate of 2.6% in the second quarter, missing analysts' expectations of 2.8% growth. Meanwhile, first-quarter growth was revised down to 1.2% from a previous estimate of 1.4%.

Capital Economics said the data suggests that GDP is still on track for growth of around 2.2% for 2017 as a whole.

"This should convince the Fed that, despite the recent weakness of core inflation, the real economy remains in good shape."

Elsewhere, the latest University of Michigan survey revealed that the index of consumer sentiment came in at 93.4, up from a preliminary reading of 93.1 but below June's 95.1. It was above last July's reading of 90.0, however.

The current economic conditions index rose to 113.4 from 112.5 in June and 109.0 in July 2016.

Meanwhile, the index of consumer expectations declined to 80.5 this month from 83.9 in June, but was above last July's reading of 77.8.