Stocks Opened Slightly Lower as Oil Prices Dropped

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Monday as oil prices dropped the most in four weeks. The Dow industrial Average lately declined 69.44 points, or 0.37%, to 18,483.13. The S&P 500 fell 6.95 points, or 0.32%, to 2,176.92. The Nasdaq Composite lost 8.65 points, or 0.17%, to 5,229.73.

Crude oil prices slumped on Monday as investors cashed in their gains on growing fear the rise in oil prices will prompt more U.S. shale oil players to return to the oil patch. Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September slid $1.31, or 2.7%, to $47.21 a barrel. October Brent crude fell $1.56, or 3.1%, to $49.32 a barrel.

Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen may use her speech in Jackson Hole to start the race for a rate hike as soon as September. Yellen will speak Friday from the Fed’s summer retreat at 10 a.m. Eastern. The subject of her remarks is “The Federal
Reserve’s Monetary Policy Toolkit.”

Pfizer Inc. said Monday it has agreed to buy biotech Medivation Inc. for $81.50 a share, valuing the total company at about $14 billion, in a move that adds one of the crown jewels of the multibillion-dollar market for cancer drugs to Pfizer’s portfolio.