U.S. stocks open lower after gov't shutdown

NEW YORK, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday as the first government shutdown since 2013 weighed on the market.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 60.85 points, or 0.23 percent, to 26,010.87. The S&P 500 decreased 1.32 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,808.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 2.21 points, or 0.03 percent, to 7,334.17.

The U.S. government shut down on Saturday after a spending bill that would fund the government through Feb. 16 failed to pass in the Senate.

The shutdown continued for a third day on Monday as the Senate on Sunday failed to reach an agreement to break an impasse before the work week began in Washington.

Analysts said that historically, a brief bout of volatility had hit the market following a government shutdown, but the impact was often short-lived.

Investors also kept an eye on the corporate earnings reports.

Fourth quarter earnings are expected to increase 12.4 percent from the last quarter of 2016. Of the 53 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings to date for the fourth quarter of 2017, 79.2 percent have reported earnings above analyst expectations, according to latest data from Thomson Reuters. Enditem