Stocks Decline at Open on European Concerns

U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Monday,  as expectations waned that a European Union summit this week would help calm the escalating euro zone debt crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 143.27 points, or 1.13%, to 12,497.51. The S&P 500 lost 18.08 points, or 1.35%, to 1,316.94. The Nasdaq Composite shed 37.51 points, or 1.30%, to 2,854.91.

The Spanish government on Monday made its request for aid for the banking sector official, with a letter from Finance Minister Luis de Guindos to Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Central bankers are finding it easier to support their economies than to spur expansion as the prospect of Japanese-like lost decades looms across the developed world. Another round of loosely correlated global stimulus has begun after the Federal Reserve extended its Operation Twist program and counterparts from Japan to Europe consider more monetary easing of their own

Billionaire investor George Soros called on Europe to start a fund to buy Italian and Spanish bonds, warning that a failure by leaders meeting this week to produce drastic measures could spell the demise of the currency.

Quest Software (QSFT.O) said a strategic bidder proposed to buy the maker of enterprise management software for about $2.32 billion in cash, trumping an earlier offer of nearly $2.17 billion from private investment firm Insight Venture Partners.