U.S. stocks open lower after Brexit speech

U.S. stocks opened lower Tuesday as Wall Street pondered over comments from British Prime Minister Theresa May on Brexit.

Britain will leave the European single market, restrict access to the country by EU citizens and end the jurisdiction in Britain of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), May said Tuesday in her toughest ever speech.

Laying out a 12-point plan that amounts to a hard Brexit, May made it clear she wants a future relationship that is beneficial for both Britain and the EU's 27 member states.

May said she wants Britain to remain as a "best friend and neighbor" to Europe, but also reach out to the rest of the world as a global trading nation, to countries such as China, Brazil and the Gulf States.

She added, however, the U.K. government will put the Brexit deal it agrees with the European Union to a parliamentary vote.

U.S. stocks were closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. On Friday, U.S. stocks finished mixed, with the Nasdaq setting a new closing record, as investors digested corporate earnings reports as well as a batch of economic data.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 48.83 points, or 0.25 percent, to 19,836.90. The S&P 500 lost 6.21 points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,268.43. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 18.42 points, or 0.33 percent, to 5,555.70. Endit