Stocks Begin Mildly Lower Ahead Earnings

.S. stocks began mildly lower on Tuesday as Wall Street looked to quarterly results from Alcoa Inc. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 21.85 points to 13,362.44. The S&P 500 index shed 1.75 points to 1,460.14. The Nasdaq Composite  was up 3.01 points to 3,101.82.

American International Group Inc , the insurer rescued by the U.S. government in 2008 with a bailout that ultimately totaled $182 billion (113.2 billion pounds), may join a lawsuit against the government alleging the terms of the deal were unfair.

AT&T Inc reported on Tuesday it sold more than 10 million smartphone in the fourth quarter, a record. The total topped the previous record of 9.4 million sold in the same quarter in 2011.

Unemployment in the 17 EU countries that use the euro rose to 11.8 percent in November, as the number of jobless people in the region rose to 18.8 million, the highest figure since the single currency was founded in 1999.