Wall Street opens lower after record run, acquisition deals in focus

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Monday, after major benchmark stock indices soared to record highs last week, with acquisition deals talk dominating investor attention.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.18% to 15327.95 points. The S&P 500 index was down 0.06% to 1666.48 points. The NASDAQ composite index slipped 0.08% to 3496.16 points. As of 09:50 New York Time

The S&P 500 and Dow industrials finished Friday at fresh record highs and the Nasdaq Composite is at its highest since late 2000. A light economic and earnings calendar could leave the market vulnerable for a pullback.

Yahoo shares rose 1.9 percent after its board has approved a deal to buy blogging and social networking site Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash.

Actavis confirmed it will acquire Warner Chilcott Plc in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at $5 billion. Actavis shares rose 1.42 percent and Warner Chilcott added 0.26 percent after the opening.

Investors think that the end of the Federal Reserve’s massive bond-purchasing program might come sooner after an array of positive economic reports, particularly in the U.S. labor sector.

However, Dallas Federal Reserve’s President Richard Fisher told CNBC reporters earlier that a scale back for the Fed’s monthly $85 billion in bond purchases should be the key, as halting it would be “too violent for the market.”

Fisher`s comment came days after the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s President John Williams said that quickening economic growth and an improving labor market may prompt the central bank to start pulling its $85 billion of monthly bond purchases by summer.