StockS Mixed at the Start

U.S. stocks edged tentatively higher on Monday, with Wall Street taking a cautious stance while tracking events in Europe, with Italy the current focus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 43.37 points to 12,026.61. The S&P 500 Index fell 7.92 points to 1,253.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2.25 points to 2,688.40.

The leaders of Greece’s two biggest political parties were in talks Monday to choose the head of a new interim government, after reaching a historic power-sharing deal to accept a massive financial rescue package and prevent imminent bankruptcy.

Italy’s borrowing rates spiked to a new euro high Monday and talk of early elections grew, as pressure mounted on Premier Silvio Berlusconi to resign so a new government could pass the economic reforms that Italy needs avoid a financial disaster.

CME Group (NasdaqGS:CME) and IntercontinentalExchange Inc (NYSE:ICE) moved over the weekend to limit the fallout from the MF Global Holdings Ltd (Other OTC:MFGLQ.PK – News) bankruptcy on futures markets by lowering margin requirements on some accounts.

U.S. electronics retailer Best Buy Co Inc is buying its British partner out of a fast-growing U.S. mobile phone joint venture for $1.3 billion and scrapping plans for a chain of European megastores, it said on Monday.