US stocks open in red ahead of Fed data

US stocks opened lower Tuesday as traders awaited fresh testimony from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke to Congress on the economy, according to AFP.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 20.29 points (0.16 percent) to 12,824.84 in the first five minutes of trade.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 3.66 points (0.27 percent) to 1,340.67, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 6.17 points (0.21 percent) to 2,895.82.

The major indices had closed lower Monday as investors booked profits after last week’s rally and monitored the lack of a crucial deal between Greece and bondholders needed to avert defaulting on its debt.