Stocks Little Changed at Open, Oil Slid Back Lower

U.S. stocks opened little changed on Monday, as oil prices gave up most of their overnight jump. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 12.09 points, or 0.07%, to 17,835.90. The S&P 500 gained 3.15 point or 0.15%, to 2,092.32. The Nasdaq Composite was up 10.46 points, or 0.20%, to 5,115.38.

Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) on Monday said it would buy Botox maker Allergan Plc (AGN.N) in a record-breaking deal worth $160 billion, designed to cut the company’s U.S. tax bill by moving its headquarters to Ireland.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) has decided that Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year, should not start on a Monday anymore. The world’s largest retailer by revenue will, for the first time this year, launch all its Cyber Monday deals on the Sunday after Thanksgiving rather than the early hours of Monday morning as in previous years.

Oil prices fell on Monday, releasing fleeting gains made after the Saudi Arabian cabinet reiterated its commitment to work with other producers. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures (CLc1) were down 68 cents a barrel at $41.22 a barrel by 1413 GMT.