Stocks Opened Lower after CPI Data

U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday as data showed that U.S consumer prices rose in February for the first time in four months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately dropped 39.63 points, or 0.22%, to 18,076.41. The S&P 500 was down 4.83 points, or 0.23%, to 2,099.59. The Nasdaq Composie dipped 4.91 points, or 0.10%, to 5,006.06.

U.S consumer prices rose in February for the first time in four months. The consumer price index climbed by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month, the Labor Department said Tuesday.

Euro zone businesses ramped up activity this month, just as the European Central Bank starts printing money to spur growth and inflation. Markit’s Eurozone Composite Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), based on surveys of thousands of companies and seen as a good growth indicator, jumped to a near four-year high of 54.1 from February’s 53.3.

Federal Reserve policymaker James Bullard said on Tuesday the “boom time” in the United States economy was creating the possibility that inflation could surprise on the upside.

Google Inc. said it hired Ruth Porat, Morgan Stanley’s chief financial officer, to succeed Patrick Pichette as its new CFO in May.