The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 29.59 points (0.24 percent) to 12,326.62 in the first minutes of trade.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index gave up 3.15 points (0.24 percent) at 1,313.13 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 3.71 points (0.14 percent) to 2,742.45.

Utilities and consumer goods stocks were generally lower while energy shares rose a day after Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley forecast the price for Brent crude, London's benchmark, would hit $130 a barrel in 2012.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011