New York--Wall Street stocks opened mostly higher Monday following merger announcements as some European bourses hit new records.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 18,165.77, up 33.07 points (0.18 percent).
The broad-based S&P 500 added 2.02 (0.10 percent) at 2,106.52, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 13.69 (0.28 percent) to 4,977.22.
The biggest deal was NXP Semiconductor's $16.7 billion purchase of Freescale Semiconductor, linking two big manufacturers of chips used in cars. NXP jumped 14.4 percent, while Freescale gained 9.4 percent.
Equity markets in Britain and Germany hit record peaks earlier Monday on hopes that the European Central Bank's quantitative easing stimulus for the eurozone, due to be outlined later this week, will bolster economic growth.
afp
