S&P 500 Index opens modestly lower, stays above 3,900

• Wall Street's main indexes trade in the negative territory.
• Energy stocks slide after posting strong gains on Monday.
• Defensive sectors stay in the green after the opening bell.

After posting new all-time highs at the start of the week, major equity indexes in the US opened modestly lower on Tuesday as investors seem to be booking their profits. As of writing, the S&P 500 Index was down 0.2% at 3,907, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was losing 0.33% at 31,278 and the Nasdaq Composite was falling 0.08% at 13,685.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index, which rose more than 4% on Monday, is the worst performer after the opening bell, down 1.77% on the day. 

On the other hand, the defensive sectors are edging higher, confirming the risk-averse market environment. At the moment, the Real Estate and the Utilities indexes both rise around 0.4%.

The only data from the US showed on Tuesday showed that the NFIB Business Optimism Index in January declined to 95 from 95.9 in December but was largely ignored by market participants.

S&P 500 chart (daily)