Stocks Opened Slightly Lower

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Monday, after a string of record highs last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 11.87 points, 0.04%, to 28,633.39. The S&P 500 was down 1.79 points, or 0.06%, to 3,238.23. The Nasdaq Composite declined 10.98 points, 0.12%, to 8,995.64.

Oil futures extended a December rally to hit a three-month high Monday, buoyed by upbeat expectations around the global economy. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery rose 47 cents, or 0.8%, to $62.19 a barrel, while March Brent crude was up 57 cents, or 0.8%, at $67.43 a barrel.

The U.S. merchandise-trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed for a third month in November to the smallest shortfall in three years. The gap decreased to $63.2 billion from $66.8 billion the prior month, according to Commerce Department data released Monday that compared with forecasts for a widening to $68.7 billion. Exports rose 0.7% while imports dropped 1.3%.

Cowen expects Tesla will deliver some 356,000 vehicles for this year, slightly below the company’s target range of 360,000 to 400,000, as Model 3 deliveries start to slump.