New York - US stocks opened broadly lower on Tuesday as investors moved to safety amid rising support in Britain for splitting from the European Union and ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting.
Earlier the yield on one of Europe's safest sovereign bonds, the 10-year German bund, fell below zero for the first time, reflecting broad worries over the global economy and a possible British referendum vote against EU membership on June 23.
"Risk aversion is the order of the day," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com, adding: "So far anyway."
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1% at 17 709.10.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.1% to 2 077.19.
But the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite managed a slight to gain of 0.1% at 4 851.07.