Small caps open lower

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) is sagging as investors look to the economy and await the words of key policymakers.

At 10:09 p.m. ET, the small-cap index had dropped 3.65 points, or 0.51%, to 718.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) was missing 60.72 points, or 0.48%, to 12,491.52.

Stocks are posting small declines as investors look ahead to the testimonies of policy makers appearing before the U.S. Congress. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is expected to tell lawmakers that the economy will slow but avoid recession.

Also appearing before a Senate committee on banking and housing at 10 a.m. ET is U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.

In economic news, the U.S. Labor Department reported before the opening that initial jobless claims for the weak ended Feb. 9 fell 9,000 to 348,000 from the preceding week’s downwardly revised total of 357,000.

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