Wall Street opens largely lower

US stock indices opened lower but remained near record highs, with energy shares leading the decline as crude prices tumble two percent to seven-month lows on oversupply concerns, which overtook the strong gains of the tech sector. 

Earlier US data showed the current account deficit rising below expectations in the first quarter, while Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans and Federal Reserve Vice Governor Stanley Fischer made speeches, while markets await Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan to speak about the economy and monetary policy at the Commonwealth Club, in San Francisco.

Evans talked about current economic conditions and monetary policy at the New York University Money Marketeers event, where he mentioned the possibility of delaying rate hikes until the December meeting, expressing the need to gradually raise rates and trim down the federal balance sheet, while saying the Fed shouldn't hurry in its tightening to avoid setbacks. 

Evans said the US economy is nearing full employment as the economy registers noticeable improvements, while the Federal Reserve voted last week to increase interest rates for the second time this year to between 1% and 1.25%. 

As of 03:44 GMT, Standard and Poor's 500 shed 0.26%, or 6.33 points to 2,447.02, while Dow Jones declined 0.01%, or 2.11 points to 21,526.88.

Tech-heavy NASDAQ slipped 0.15%, or 9.36 points to 6,229.65.