U.S. stocks open lower on oil slide

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Friday, as declines in oil prices weighed Wall Street.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked down 4.11 points, or 0.02 percent, to 17,922.32. The S&P 500 lost 0.99 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,081.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 6.28 points, or 0.13 percent, to 4,939.60.

U.S. crude oil futures shed 2.29 percent at 40.55 U.S. dollars a barrel in the early Friday.

On the economic front, U.S. industrial production decreased 0.6 percent in March for a second month in a row, according to the Fed on Friday.

In corporate news, Citigroup reported Friday the first quarter 2016 net income of 3.5 billion dollars, or 1.10 dollars per diluted share, on revenues of 17.6 billion dollars. Both the bank's earnings and revenue topped expectations. Shares of Citi rose 2.16 percent to 45.95 in the early trading.

U.S. stocks closed narrowly mixed after wavering between small gains and losses Thursday, as investors assessed quarterly earnings from big banks amid economic data. Endi