Stocks Opened Lower, Oil Slumped

U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday, weighed down by losses in energy shares following a sharp drop in oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately slipped 63.57 points, or 0.36%, to 17,784.06. The S&P 500 fell 7.51 points, or 0.36%, to 2,084.18. The Nasdaq Composite was down 16.01 points, or 0.31%, to 5,126.26.

Oil prices fell to their lowest in nearly seven years on Monday after OPEC’s meeting ended in disagreement over production cuts and without a reference to its output ceiling, while a stronger dollar made it more expensive to hold crude positions. Brent crude prices, the globally traded benchmark, traded down 82 cents at $42.18 a barrel at 1334 GMT and touched a low of $42.11.

Keurig, the maker of single-cup coffee machine maker, said Monday that it has agreed to be sold to private equity firm JAB Holding Co. for almost $14 billion.

Volkswagen AG said Sunday that its chief executive, chairman and top shareholders are in Qatar for talks with one of the company’s core investors, the Qatar Investment Authority, amid reports that the Qataris are calling for sweeping changes in the German car maker’s management.

General Electric has pulled the plug on the agreed $3.3 billion sale of its appliance business to Sweden’s Electrolux AB. GE said it had terminated the sale, noting it was entitled to the $175 million breakup fee it had previously agreed with Electrolux ELUXB, ELUXY, in case the deal fell through.