NEW YORK - US stocks skidded lower at the opening Wednesday, with investors jittery ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's appearance before Congress and a report on US oil inventories.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 44.70 points (0.41 percent) to 10,785.30, and the Nasdaq dropped 11.99 points (0.58 percent) to 2,059.26 in the first trades.
The Standard and Poor's 500 index shed 4.54 points (0.38 percent) to 1,205.87.
Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services, said the market was skittish ahead of Greenspan's testimony before the House Budget Committee and the Energy Department's oil inventory report, a key to crude oil futures.
Greenspan "is expected to indicate that he will push interest rates higher," said Mendelsohn, which could be problematic for Wall Street.
Other concerns for investors, said Mendelsohn, include a fresh uptick in bond yields and the inability of the stock market to break through key technical resistance.
"We had a good day yesterday, but we couldn't get through that 1,212 to 1,215 area on the S and P 500," he said. "That's very strong overhead resistance, and the longer we continue to try to get through that and can't, the stronger that resistance point comes moving forward."
03/02/2005 14:38 GMT - AFP