Stocks Opened Lower as Falling Oil Prices Weighed

U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday, as crude oil prices fell following the Christmas weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 57.32 points, or 0.33%, to 17,494.85. The S&P 500 declined 8.23 points, or 0.40%, to 2,052. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 17.70 points, or 0.35%, to 5,030.80.

Strong online sales and demand for furniture and women’s apparel helped U.S. retail sales grow by a “solid” 7.9 percent this holiday season, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse. Online sales grew 20 percent in the holiday season this year, MasterCard Advisors said in a report on Monday.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $37.24 a barrel, down 86 cents, or 2.3%. February Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell 78 cents, or 2.1%, to $37.10 a barrel.

Amazon.com Inc. said Monday it added three million new members to its Amazon Prime service in the third week of December, boosting what was already a record holiday season for the online giant.

Chimerix Inc. said Monday that the Phase 3 trial of a drug used to prevent infections following blood and marrow transplants didn’t meet its goals.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, the drug company whose business model has been under siege, announced on Monday that J. Michael Pearson, its chairman and chief executive, was on medical leave and that a team of executives would run the company while he was out.

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