U.S. stocks open lower amid Brexit concern, economic data

U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday as investors became cautious amid Brexit concern and newly-released economic data.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 43.14 points, or 0.24 percent, to 17,689.96. The S&P 500 shed 5.48 points, or 0.26 percent, to 2,072.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index went down 25.40 points, or 0.52 percent, to 4,819.52.

"The unfortunate murder of the British (pro-remain) politician, Jo Cox, has caused an obvious suspension of the campaigning around the Brexit vote in the UK," said Stephen Guilfoyle, managing director at Deep Value, on Friday.

On the economic front, privately-owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.164 million units, 0.3 percent below the revised April estimate, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

Meanwhile, investors continued to assess the impacts of the Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

According to the Fed's statement after the policy meeting, the central bank still leans toward hiking rates, but its six members now believe there will be just one rate hike this year. Endi