Stocks Opened Higher With European and Chinese Equities

U.S. stocks opened modestly higher on Monday, boosted by gains in European and Chinese shares. he Dow Jones Industrial Average
lately gained 95.25 points, or 0.53%, to 18,119.31. The S&P 500 was up 11.12 points, or 0.53%, to 2,119.41. The Nasdaq Composite added 32.07 points, or 0.64%, to 5,037.46.

Cisco Systems Inc said on Monday that Chief Executive John Chambers would step down after 20 years at the helm to become executive chairman, and that 17-year company veteran Chuck Robbins would become CEO effective July 26.

McDonald’s (MCD) will accelerate its refranchising and realign its markets in a bid to revive the struggling fortunes of the world’s largest fast-food chain, CEO Steve Easterbrook said Monday.

MGM Resorts International reported a first-quarter profit that beat expectations, but sales that missed. Net earnings came in at $169.9 million, or 33 cents a share, up from $102.7 million, or 20 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

China’s factories suffered their fastest drop in activity in a year in April as new orders shrank, a private business survey showed on Monday. The HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 48.9 in April – the lowest level since April 2014 – from 49.6 in March, as demand faltered and deflationary pressures persisted.

An arm of Fosun Group will spend at least $1.84 billion to acquire the 80% of U.S. insurer Ironshore Inc. Fosun International Ltd. said in a statement with the Hong Kong stock exchange late Sunday that the proposed deal for the closely held insurer was part of its effort to make insurance a greater share of the group’s core operations.