NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Wall Street indices mostly fell early Friday as companies contended with a massive global IT outage while markets weighed mixed earnings and the latest intrigue in the US presidential contest.

Airlines, banks, TV channels and other businesses across the globe were scrambling to overcome an IT crash following an update to an antivirus program on Microsoft’s vast Windows program.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.4 percent at 40,500.98.

The broad-based S&P 500 was flat at 5,544.32, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped less than 0.1 percent to 17,865.30.

Stocks fell on Thursday following an uptick in the VIX volatility index seen as reflecting speculation that US President Joe Biden could soon exit the 2024 election contest.

On Thursday night, former president Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination.

Netflix rose 1.2 per cent after reporting it added eight million new subscribers in the second quarter, a sign the streaming giant’s efforts to boost revenue after a rough patch in 2022 are paying off.

Among other companies reporting results, American Express fell 2.9 per cent while Schlumberger advanced 0.8 per cent.

CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity company at the heart of the global outage, tumbled 11.5 per cent. CEO George Kurtz announced that a fix had been rolled out for the problem.