NEW YORK, June 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Tuesday as investors were digesting the latest comments from Federal Reserve officials.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 11.24 points, or 0.05 percent, to 21,517.75. The S&P 500 erased 5.13 points, or 0.21 percent, to 2,448.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 10.18 points, or 0.16 percent, to 6,228.83.
Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said on Tuesday the current low-rate environment was likely to remain for some time, adding that low rates handicap the central bank's ability to "offset negative shocks."
Meanwhile, Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said that while the United States and other nations have taken action to strengthen their housing finance systems, more needs to be done to prevent a future crisis, according to CNBC.
New York Fed President William Dudley said on Monday that inflation should pick up as wages rise along with continuing improvement in the labor market.
The officials' words came in less than a week after the Fed raised its interest rates for the fourth time since December 2015.
Investors are overall skeptical that the central bank will raise rates again in September. Market expectations for a September-hike are just 13 percent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
With little data being released on Tuesday, investors were awaiting the closely-watched House Speaker Paul Ryan's speech to get more information about the potential tax reform in the country. Enditem
