US stocks tread water during opening hour of trade

Major US equity indices witnessed a subdued opening hour of trade on Tuesday as traders refrained from placing any big bets ahead of this week's key events. 

Today's lacklustre move comes ahead of the Fed Chair Janet Yellen's semiannual testimony, starting Wednesday, and Friday's important US macro data - monthly retail sales and the latest inflation figures. Moreover, investors also seemed to opt for a wait and watch strategy ahead of the start to the next earnings season.

At the time of writing, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index were treading water around yesterday's closing level, while the broader S&P 500 Index lost around 3-points to 2,424.

Later during the day, comments from the Fed Governor Lael Brainard and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari would be looked upon for some insights over the central bank's monetary policy outlook and might provide some impetus.