us stocks opened lower as investors assess fresh retail sales data that came in slightly above expectations the dow jones industrial average djia was down 02 soon after the opening bell while the sp 500 spx fell 04 and the nasdaq composite comp dropped 09 according to factset data at last check the us commerce department said wednesday that sales at retailers rose 13 in october thats slightly above the 12 increase forecast by economists polled by the wall street journal the federal reserve has been trying to cool the economy and bring down inflation through monetary tightening