US stocks have fallen for a second day, opening lower despite a rise in housing starts.

Five minutes into trade on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 33.02 (0.22 per cent) to 15,079.17.

The broad-based S&P 500 lost 5.15 (0.31 per cent) at 1,656.17, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 7.39 (0.20 per cent) to 3,598.73.

New housing starts grew to an annualised pace of 896,000 units, up from 846,000 in June. But starts remained shy of the pace of the January-March 2013 average of 957,000.

US stocks have tumbled the last two days following weak earnings outlooks from retail and other companies and rising expectations that the US Federal Reserve will begin scaling back its bond-buying program in the coming months despite mixed economic data.