Wall Street opens modestly lower as technology shares underperform

• The Technology Index falls sharply dragged by losses in FAANG group.
• Energy shares gain traction as crude oil recovery continues.
• Moody's downgrades Ford, causes a more than 3% fall in stocks.

Major equity indexes in the United States started the day modestly lower pressured by the sharply falling technology shares. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2% on the day while the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite were erasing 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively.

Shares of tech giants Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google (Alphabet) all fall around 0.5% in the early trade amid the antitrust investigation into Google and a risk-off atmosphere. As of writing, the S&P 500 Technology Index is down 1.4% on the day to lead the losers. Moreover, Moody's Investor Services today announced that they downgraded Ford Motor shares to 'junk' status and caused the stocks to fall more than 3%. 

On the other hand, rising crude oil prices on Tuesday provide a boost to the S&P 500 Energy Index, which is adding 1.35% today to help the S&P 500 limit its losses.