As the nation moved closer to the possibility of a credit downgrade, the markets opened lower with the Dow falling 52 points to 12,628. Nasdaq lost 9 points to 2849.

On the upside

Altair Nanotechnologies (Nasdaq: ALTI) raised $57.5 million through a Share Subscription Agreement with Canon Investment Holdings affiliate Energy Storage Technology.

Ireland reduced its stake in Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) to 32% by selling a 1.1 billion euro stake in the bank to investors.

Wowjoint Holdings (Nasdaq: BWOW) announced on Friday that it will provide a 50 ton marine hoist to Shenzhen Land Investment & Development Center.

On the downside

Raptor Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: RPTP) reported positive results from a Phase III clinical trial of its nephropathic cystinosis treatment RP103 but the stock price plummeted.

Roth Capital cited the fatal train accident in China's Zhejiang province over the weekend for downgrading Hollysys Automation (Nasdaq: HOLI).

Second quarter earnings dropped for hospital operator HCA (NYSE: HCA) to fall short of analyst expectations.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 4 points to 837.