US stocks drop as oil-linked shares tumble

US stocks dropped early Friday with petroleum-linked equities especially weak due to a sharp fall in oil prices.

About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 16,260.32, down 70.08 points (0.43 percent).

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 10.69 (0.55 percent) at 1,941.60, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 26.07 (0.54 percent) to 4,770.18.

US oil prices were down almost three percent early Friday after Goldman Sachs slashed its price forecast for the commodity amid a global oversupply.

Dow member ExxonMobil fell 0.7 percent, while EOG Resources lost 2.0 percent and Apache tumbled 2.8 percent.

Dow member General Electric dipped 0.4 percent after announcing it would sell the transportation finance unit of GE Capital to Canada's BMO Financial Group for an undisclosed amount.

Chipmaker Marvell Technology Group sank 17.2 percent as it disclosed that its audit committee had initiated an independent investigation of the company's accounting and internal controls. As a result, the company delayed release of its second-quarter financial statements.

Supermarket chain Kroger rose 3.1 percent as it lifted its 2015 profit forecast range from $1.90-$1.95 per share to $1.92-$1.98 per share.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.19 percent from 2.23 percent Thursday, while the 30-year dropped to 2.95 percent from 2.99 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.