NEW YORK, July 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday as major tech shares dropped, weighing on the market.

File photo

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 135.58 points, or 0.51 percent, to close at 26,516.75. The S&P 500 was down 21.04 points, or 0.65 percent, to 3,214.62. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 162.80 points, or 1.56 percent, to 10,298.62.

Shares of major U.S. tech giants, the so-called FAANG group of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet, all traded lower.

The S&P 500 tech sector fell more than 2 percent in morning trading, the worst-performing group.

The moves came after a downbeat session on Wall Street that saw the Dow dip more than 350 points.

Market sentiment was dented by a continued spike in coronavirus infections in the United States and investors were also worried about U.S.-China tensions, experts noted.

The United States hit a new virus milestone Thursday with confirmed COVID-19 cases topping 4 million. As of Friday morning local time, roughly 4.04 million cases have been reported in the country, with over 144,000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.