Wall Street opens lower without "cliff" solution

Stocks opened lower on Monday, the last trading day of the year, as political leaders in Washington worked to find agreement that would keep the United States from falling off the "fiscal cliff."

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 51.99 points, or 0.40 percent, at 12,886.12. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 4.09 points, or 0.29 percent, at 1,398.34. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 5.20 points, or 0.18 percent, at 2,955.11.

Major indexes are on track for their sixth straight day of losses, though the S&P 500 remains up more than 11 percent for the year.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Kenneth Barry)