U.S. Stocks Open Lower, Indexes Remain Near Record Levels

U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday, indicating a second straight day of mild declines as investors took a breather from recent gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 24 points, or 0.1%, to 20,932. The S&P 500 lost 3 points to trade at 2,371, a decline of 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 12 points to 5,837, a decline of 0.2%. The benchmark S&P 500 has hit a series of records of late, and it is also coming off a six-week streak of gains. The rally has raised concerns that the move was too much, too quickly, and that equities could be vulnerable to a pullback in the near-term, particularly with the Federal Reserve widely expected to raise interest rates at its upcoming meeting. Among the biggest decliners of the day were health care stocks, after President Donald Trump tweeted that he was working on a new system to increase drug industry competition and reduce drug pricing. Ionis Pharmaceuticals lost 2.1% while Sage Therapeutics slid 2%.