NEW YORK (AP) – American stocks opened lower Wednesday as investors awaited congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke about the economy and analyzed a weaker-than-expected rise in orders for large manufactured goods.

Stocks had rallied last week after interpreting language from the Fed as opening the way to the possibility of a reduction in interest rates. Bernanke’s testimony before a joint Congressional committee on the country’s economic outlook comes a day after renewed concerns about the housing market helped send stocks lower.

The Dow Jones industrials had their biggest pullback in two weeks Tuesday after a report showing a drop in prices of single-family homes had investors theorizing that the housing market might continue to sour and hurt consumer spending. News of probes into Beazer Homes USA Inc. was likely to weigh on homebuilder stocks Wednesday.

In the early minutes of trading, the Dow industrials fell 27.88, or 0.22 percent, to 12,369.41.

Economic data appeared to weigh on stocks. Orders for durable goods increased 2.5 percent in February amid an increase in sales of commercial aircraft and autos after a 9.3 percent falloff in January. Wall Street had expected the Commerce Department report would show a 3.5 percent gain. The weak reading for January helped contribute to a Feb. 27 global selloff that cut the Dow industrials by 416 points. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders fell 0.1 percent, the fourth drop in five months.

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