Wall Street stocks have opened slightly lower on a mixed report on US retail sales and rising sectarian fighting in Iraq.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 10.02 points (0.06 per cent) at 16,833.86.
The broad-based S&P 500 lost 1.89 (0.10 per cent) at 1,942.00, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 10.41 (0.24 per cent) to 4,321.52.
The Commerce Department said May retail and food sales rose by just 0.3 per cent, well below the 0.7 per cent rise expected by analysts.
However, the report also revised the estimate for April retail sales growth from 0.1 per cent to 0.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, US oil prices opened 1.7 per cent higher at $106.20 as jihadists pushed toward the Iraqi capital of Baghdad in a lightning offensive since late Monday that has overrun several provinces.
In northern Iraq, Kurdish forces took control of the disputed Iraqi oil hub of Kirkuk, the latest move in a long-running rivalry between Baghdad and Kirkuk province.
"Developments in Iraq will remain a focal point and a festering source of concern since they are a new development on the geopolitical front," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
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