U.S. stocks plummet at opening

U.S. stocks opened sharply lower Tuesday as durable goods orders unexpectedly dropped and corporate earnings missed forecast.

New orders for manufactured durable goods in December decreased 8.1 billion U.S. dollars, or 3.4 percent, to 230.5 billion dollars, the U.S. Commerce Department announced. This decrease, down four of the last five months, followed a 2.1 percent November decrease.

S&P Dow Jones Indices Tuesday released the latest results for the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, a leading measure of U.S. home prices. Data released for November 2014 showed a continued slowdown in home prices nationwide, but with price increases in nine cities.

Caterpillar announced fourth-quarter 2014 sales and revenues of 14.244 billion dollars, slightly down from 14.402 billion dollars in the fourth quarter of 2013. Profit per share in the fourth quarter of 2014 was 1.23 dollars, compared with profit per share of 1.54 dollars in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Traders also keep a close eye on the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting starting Tuesday for any clues on the timing of its interest rate hike.

Later in the morning session, the Conference Board will release consumer confidence index for January.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 288.34 points, or 1.63 percent, to 17,390.36. The S&P 500 reduced 26.22 points, or 1.27 percent, to 2,030.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 82.45 points, or 1.73 percent, to 4,689.31. Endi