Wall Street's main indexes opened lower on Wednesday, a day after the Nasdaq scaled a fresh peak, as investors assessed the risk to the domestic economy from a surge in coronavirus cases in several US states.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 163.14 points, or 0.62 per cent, at the open to 25,992.96.

The S&P 500 opened lower by 16.89 points, or 0.54 per cent, at 3,114.40. The Nasdaq Composite fell 37.55 points, or 0.37 per cent, at 10,093.82 shortly after market open.