In thin trade after Thursday's Thanksgiving Day holiday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 42.13 points (0.48 per cent) to 8,684.48 in the first exchanges.

The Nasdaq composite fell 12.42 points (0.81 per cent) to 1,519.68 and the Standard & Poor's 500 broad-market index declined 3.87 points (0.44 per cent) to 883.81.

Stocks retreated after a series of strong gains that pushed up the market by more than 10 per cent.

Andrew Busch at BMO Capital Markets said the attacks in Mumbai underscored the fragile geopolitical situation.

'While the loss of life in Mumbai is horrific, the financial markets are reacting by selling risk and this is manifested in selling equities and buying US dollars,' Busch said.

'The markets appear to be saying that they are worried, but not excessively so. The Mumbai developments add to the reasons to be negative for the stock markets.' -- AFP