NEW YORK, April 25 — US stocks opened lower today as investors await first quarter earnings results from some of America's biggest tech companies later today including Facebook owner Meta, and Microsoft.

Shares in General Motors and McDonald's fell in early trading despite both companies posting stronger-than-expected results before markets opened.

Around 5 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down around 0.1 per cent at 33,852.38.

The broad-based S&P 500 was down 0.4 per cent to 4,120.43, with the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index falling more than 0.5 per cent to stand at 11,970.92.

Investors are bracing for earnings results from some of America's tech giants later today, including Meta, Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet.

"We are waiting to see whether the market rallies or pulls back," Peter Cardillo, analyst for Spartan Capital Securities, said in an interview.

Shares in the beleaguered lender First Republic Bank fell almost 30 per cent in early trading after its results showed an outflow of more than US$100 billion in customer deposits last month, amid the market turmoil sparked by the rapid collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

The company announced plans to shrink its workforce by up to 25 per cent and implement "significant" cuts to executive compensation. — AFP