U.S. stocks open lower ahead of Fed meeting

U.S. stocks opened lower Monday as Wall Street eyed the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting scheduled to begin Tuesday.

At its December meeting, the U.S. central bank raised the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, the first and only time in 2016, and indicated a faster rate hike pace next year.

Most analysts believed that the Fed won't hike rates at this week's meeting, but the meeting will still be watched closely for more clues on the timing a next rate increase.

On the economic front, U.S. personal income in December increased 50.2 billion U.S. dollars, or 0.3 percent, missing market consensus, announced the Commerce Department Monday.

In December, disposable personal income increased 43.6 billion dollars, or 0.3 percent, and personal consumption expenditures increased 63.1 billion dollars, or 0.5 percent.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 74.78 points, or 0.37 percent, to 20,019.00. The S&P 500 lost 9.69 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,285.00. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 28.12 points, or 0.50 percent, to 5,632.66.

On Friday, U.S. stocks closed mixed, with the Nasdaq eking out a new closing record as investors digested the country's economic growth data as well as a batch of technical corporate earnings reports. Endi