NEW YORK, May 19 — Wall Street stocks opened mostly lower today, as markets struggled to rebound from the sell-off in the prior session amid worries about inflation and slowing growth.

About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.7 per cent at 31,276.04.

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.2 per cent to 3,914.36, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.3 per cent to 11,447.84.

Major US indices dropped more than 3.5 per cent yesterday, buffeted by worries about rising prices cutting into profit margins following disappointing results from retail giants Walmart and Target.

Investor sentiment remained brittle early today, with equity buyers yet to show much staying power.

"The market is very oversold. And the inability to rally for more than a few days speaks volumes to how weak the market is right now," said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments.

"Normally, when the market gets oversold ... you would expect the market to have what they call a relief rally."

Among individual companies, Cisco Systems sank around 10 per cent after it projected weaker than expected sales and profit for the upcoming quarter. — AFP