US benchmark equity indexes were lower ahead of Friday's close after multiple business were potentially affected by a global technology outage and markets weighed the latest corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.8% at 40,326.8, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7% to 17,707.4. The S&P 500 lost 0.6% to 5,512.9. Among sectors, technology saw the steepest decline, followed by energy. Health care was the sole gainer.
Global tech systems faced disruptions Friday following a CrowdStrike (CRWD) system update, impacting industries from airlines to broadcasters. CrowdStrike flagged "a defect found in a single content update for" Microsoft (MSFT) Windows hosts.
"We are working with all impacted customers to ensure that systems are back up and they can deliver the services their customers are counting on," CrowdStrike said in an update published at 1:25 p.m. ET.
The US 10-year yield rose 5.2 basis points to 4.24%, while the two-year rate added 4.8 basis points to 4.51%.
Travelers (TRV) reported stronger-than-expected Q2 earnings, while earned premiums fell short of analyst estimates. Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) logged better-than-expected Q2 results, while Huntington Bancshares' (HBAN) Q2 earnings declined but topped Wall Street's estimates.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 3.2% to $80.14 a barrel.