Stocks start session off

U.S. stocks indexes opened off Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. Investors in New York were waiting for the fiscal cliff drama to unfold in Washington, as House Republicans planned to vote to raise tax rates on income above $1 million Thursday, a move that has no chance of passing Congress and faces a presidential veto if it does. In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 12 points, or 0.09 percent, at 13,240. The Nasdaq was down 6 points, or 0.21 percent, at 3,037. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 2 points, or 0.13, percent, at 1,434. The 10-year treasury note was trading at 1.78 percent. Against the euro, the dollar was $1.33 from Wednesday's $1.32. Against the yen, the dollar was 84.27 from 84.36 yen Wednesday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei lost 121 points, or 1.19 percent, closing at 10.039. Copyright 2012 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.