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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -
Stocks inched lower Monday morning, tripped up by rising oil prices, higher Treasury bond yields and a continued patch of consolidation after the recent rally.
The Dow Jones industrial average (down 10.96 to 10,866.55, Charts) and the broader S&P 500 (down 2.13 to 1,262.95, Charts) index both lost a few points in the early going. The Nasdaq composite (down 7.62 to 2,265.75, Charts) lost 0.3 percent.
Stocks were mixed last week, with investors holding back a bit after a 5-week rally that set the major gauges at or near 4-1/2 year highs.
Some of that reluctance remained in play Monday, particularly amid the higher oil prices.
U.S. light crude oil for January delivery rose 83 cents to $60.15 a barrel in electronic trading, as snowy weather was forecast along the heavy fuel-consuming Atlantic coast.
Among stock movers, Guidant (up $6.10 to $67.92, Research) shares soared after Boston Scientific made a $25 billion bid for the fellow medical device, outshining Johnson & Johnson's earlier bid for Guidant.
Boston Scientific (down $1.48 to $25.85, Research) shares fell, however, after the company announced separately that it was recalling its Greenfield Vena Cava Filters manufactured before March 2004. The filters are used in preventing pulmonary embolism.
At around 10 a.m. ET, the Institute for Supply Management was due to release its November read on the services sector of the economy. The index is expected to have fallen to 59.3 in the month, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com, from 60 in October.
Treasury prices slipped, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 4.54 percent from 4.51 percent late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The dollar fell versus the euro and the yen.
COMEX gold for December delivery rose $2.70 to $506 an ounce.
In global trade, major Asian markets ended lower with the exception of the Japanese Nikkei and European shares were mixed at midday.
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