Stocks Opened Mostly Higher ahead of Economic Data

U.S. stocks opened mostly higher on Monday, as investors braced for a flurry of manufacturing and construction data that could offer fresh evidence on the state of the U.S. economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately gained 32.26 points, or 0.18%, to 17,805.90. The S&P 500 was up 2.75 points, or 0.13%, to 2,068.05. The Nasdaq Composite was down 2.88 points, or 0.06%, to 4,772.47.

Baker Hughes Inc said it planned to buy back $1.5 billion (1.02 billion pound) of shares and $1 billion of debt, using the breakup fee it will receive following the collapse of its proposed buyout by Halliburton Inc.

Last week Oracle bought Textura for $663 million, giving the database giant a vertical construction solution in the cloud. Today it bought Opower for $532 million giving it a vertical utilities cloud solution.

GNC Holdings Inc. said Monday that it is conducting a strategic review that includes considering a potential sale of the health and nutrition products retailer.

Sports Authority has reached the end of the line. Two months after announcing it planned to close about 140 stores, the Colorado-based company has decided to sell its remaining assets, according to a report on Forbes.

Oil prices edged back from 2016 highs on Monday as rising production in the Middle East outweighed a decline in U.S. output and a sliding dollar. Brent was trading at $47.20 per barrel at 1130 GMT (6:30 a.m. ET), down 17 cents from its last settlement. U.S. crude) was down 2 cents at $45.90 a barrel.