U.S. stocks open lower on Tuesday

U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday after savings and loan company Washington Mutual Inc said it expects a first-quarter net loss of more than $1 billion and said it is cutting its dividend, dimming optimism that the worst of the credit crisis is over.

Although Washington Mutual said it will receive a larger-than-anticipated $7 billion by selling a stake to an investment group, the Seattle-based bank also said it will lose $1.1 billion during the first quarter, take a provision for loan losses of $3.5 billion, and lower its quarterly dividend to shareholders to a penny from 15 cents.

Meanwhile, the IMF said that despite "unprecedented intervention" by central banks such as the Federal Reserve, "financial markets remain under considerable strain."

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 63.10, or 0.50 percent, to 12,549.33.

Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 7.31, or 0.53 percent, to 1,365.23, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 17.72, or 0.75 percent, to 2,347.11.

(Agencies)