US stocks fall on weak consumer confidence

Wall Street stocks dropped into the red in early trade Friday following a weak US consumer confidence report.

About 35 minutes into trade, the S&P 500 was at 2,117.09, down 4.01 points (0.19 percent), retreating from Thursday's record high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 33.63 (0.18 percent) to 18,218.61 while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 12.91 (0.16 percent) to 5,037.88.

US stocks opened higher, but slid into negative territory on news that the University of Michigan's US consumer sentiment index plummeted to 88.6 in May, down from 95.9 in April.

The drop is the biggest in two years and reflects "weaker current household finances and more pessimism over business conditions for the next year," said Nate Kelley of Moody's Analytics.

The gloomy report on consumer confidence came on the heels of government data Wednesday showing flat retail sales in April.

Netflix rose 3.8 percent following reports it is in talks with a Chinese partner backed by Alibaba founder Jack Ma to launch online video services in China.

Upscale department-store chain Nordstrom slipped 0.2 percent after forecasting 2015 earnings per share of $3.65-$3.80, in line with the analyst forecast of $3.79.

King Digital, which developed "Candy Crush" and other video games, fell 4.3 percent after reporting that first-quarter earnings rose 29 percent to $164.1 million. While the results were "solid," King needs another hit product, said Deutsche Bank.

Keurig Green Mountain sank 8.4 percent after announcing details of its upcoming "Keurig Kold" appliance, which makes sodas at home. Analysts expressed concern at the high price of the device, which initially will be sold for $299-$369, according to Morgan Stanley.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.19 percent from 2.24 percent Thursday, while the 30-year dropped to 2.98 percent from 3.06 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.