U.S. stocks drop in early trading as Google fails to impress

NEW YORK, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street dropped in early trading Friday as earnings reports from some major technology companies weighed on the market.

Google fell about 5 percent after the search engine giant reported first-quarter profits that fell short of some analysts’estimates.

Google said its net income rose 37 percent in the first three months of the year, showing the online advertising and technology sectors are bouncing back from the recession more quickly than many other parts of the economy.

However, Google’s performance wasn’t enough to live up to the high expectations, which were boosted even further by strong earnings from Intel.

Meanwhile, shares of Advanced Micro Devices also plummeted after the chip maker said it expects revenue in the current period to decline by as much as 5 percent from the first quarter.

Data from the housing market provided some support for Wall Street. The Commerce Department said before the opening bell that housing starts increased 1.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted 626,000 annual rate, higher than analysts had expected.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 23.58 points, or 0.21 percent, to 11,120.99. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 5.38, or 0.44 percent, to 1206.29 and the Nasdaq was down 14.00, or 0.56 percent, to 2,501.69.