Stocks Opened Higher amid Thin Volumes

U.S. stocks began the holiday-shortened week slightly higher on Monday, with sentiment boosted by mergers and acquisitions deals amid thin volumes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately added 83.80 points, or 0.47%, to 17,888.60. The S&P 500 was up 2.66 points, or 0.13%, to 2,073.31. The Nasdaq Composite gained 11.09 points, or 0.23%, to 4,776.47.

American Apparel Inc.(APP) said it has received an “indication of interest” to acquire the company for $1.30 to $1.40 a share. That represents a premium of 21% to 31% to Friday’s closing price of $1.07.

After a brief rally, crude-oil prices resumed their fall on Monday, as a production glut continued to fuel a selloff. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February gave up earlier gains and slid 79 cents, or 1.4%, to $56.31 a barrel.

Saudi Arabia convinced its fellow OPEC members that it is not in the group’s interest to cut oil output however far prices may fall, the kingdom’s oil minister Ali al-Naimi said in an interview with the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES).