NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks slumped early Tuesday as investors took in a change at the helm of the U.S. Treasury and waited for consumer confidence news at the start of this shortened trading week.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 51.71 to 11,226.90, Charts), the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index (Charts) both lost around 0.4 percent, while the tech-laden Nasdaq composite (down 11.94 to 2,198.43, Charts) slid 0.5 percent.

The dollar was lower against the yen and the euro on uncertainty at the Treasury Department.

Shortly before markets opened, former U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow announced his resignation and President Bush appointed Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Henry Paulson as his successor.

The pick of Paulson was a surprise, and stock futures fell sharply on the news.

But Paulson may not hold the spotlight for long.

The Conference Board's reading on consumer confidence, due Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET, is forecast to be down to 100 from the 109.2 reported for April.

The Fed is due to release minutes of its May 10 meeting Wednesday afternoon, and the anticipation of those minutes is already causing nervousness among investors returning to work Tuesday. Rising hopes last week that the Fed might pause its course of rate hikes at its June 29 meeting helped give stocks their first positive week after two weeks of decline.

Treasury prices were little changed, leaving the yield on the benchmark 10-year note at the 5.07 percent level reached late Friday ahead of the holiday.

Major markets in Asia closed lower Tuesday, while major European markets were down in early trading.

British telecom Vodafone reported a record $40.9 billion loss, although shares of Vodafone gained about 2 percent in early trading as the company raised its dividend and the amount it planned to return to shareholders by $5.6 billion despite the loss.

Oil prices made solid gains in early trade.

The June light crude futures contract for NYMEX rose $1.09 to $72.46 in early electronic trading, while the July contract for Brent crude gained $1.15 to $71.74.

In corporate news, shares of General Motors were downgraded to a "sell" recommendation from a neutral rating by Deutsche Bank.

The embattled auto manufacturer, by far the best performer on the Dow Jones industrial average, had posted further gains last week on upgrades by Merrill Lynch and Prudential. GM shares fell around 3 percent.

Shares of Wal-Mart Stores (Research) also fell around 3 percent after the world's No. 1 retailer said higher gas prices left its May sales gain at the low end of its earlier guidance. Wal-Mart and other major retailers are due to report May sales before the market open Thursday.

Senior management of gas and oil pipeline operator Kinder Morgan (Research) late Monday announced plans to take the company private for $100 a share, a premium of about 18.5 percent over its current valuation. The deal would be worth $13.4 billion.