U.S. stocks open lower after weaker-than-expected retail sales

U.S. stocks opened modestly lower Tuesday after fresh data showed retail sales in April rose less than forecast. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.60%
was down 0.4% soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500
SPX,
-0.32%
slid 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+0.03%
shed 0.3%, according to FactSet data, at last check. Sales at U.S. retailers increased 0.4% in April, according to a report Tuesday from the U.S. Census Bureau. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.8% rise in retail sales.