US stocks open lower as earnings season kicks off

NEW YORK — US stocks opened lower Tuesday as earnings season was set to begin, with investors cautious after the economy plodded along during the fourth quarter of 2012.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 28.68 points (0.21 percent) at 13,355.61.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 3.05 points (0.21 percent) to 1,458.84, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged down 0.95 (0.03 percent) to 3,097.86.

Monsanto sheres surged 3.1 percent to $99.05 after reporting a 169 percent rise in profit for its quarter to November 30 on strong corn seed sales in the US and Latin America.