NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. markets dipped into negative territory at the open Friday as job cut announcements from two Dow components and a worse-than-expected report on durable goods orders challenged whether stocks would be able to end the week higher for the third time in a row.

Around 9:35 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average (down 35.17 to 8282.17, Charts) and Standard & Poor's 500 index (down 2.60 to 879.90, Charts) trended lower, while the Nasdaq composite (up 5.49 to 1304.20, Charts) was little changed.

Before the markets opened, the Commerce Department said durable goods orders to U.S. factories for September dropped 5.9 percent, the biggest decline since November. Economists had expected a drop of 1.9 percent, according to Briefing.com.

Weighing on the Dow, component Citigroup (C: down $0.17 to $34.50, Research, Estimates) said it plans to cut 1,000 jobs from its investment banking and corporate divisions, according to a New York Times report.

Boeing (BA: down $0.32 to $29.63, Research, Estimates), another Dow component, also said it would attempt to cut costs through layoffs and announced a work force reduction of 1,200 Friday that would take effect Jan. 1.

Driving healthcare stocks lower, No. 3 U.S. health insurer Cigna (CI: down $23.45 to $40.15, Research, Estimates) warned on its third-quarter and full-year earnings and said it could cut jobs as a result of uncertain costs. Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to "sell" on the report.

Asian-Pacific stocks finished mixed Friday, with Tokyo's Nikkei index up 1.3 percent. European markets started their day lower.

Treasury prices rose in early trade, with the 10-year note yield at 4.08 percent. The dollar slipped against the yen and the euro.

Brent oil futures rose 8 cents to $26.54 a barrel in London, where gold was higher.