Stocks in early struggle

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks were choppy Monday morning as lower oil prices and some merger news vied with ongoing worries about the subprime mortgage lenders and some investor reluctance after last week's advance.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 8.97 to 12,267.35, Charts) and the broader S&P 500 (down 3.86 to 1,398.99, Charts) index both lost 0.2 percent in the early going, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq (up 0.23 to 2,387.78, Charts) composite was little changed.

Stocks were skittish Friday but managed to end the week higher, as investors recovered a bit from the previous week's big selloff.

Monday was again volatile, as investors weighed competing influences at the start of a busy week for economic news.

U.S. light crude oil for April delivery fell 75 cents to $59.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Merger news also helped in the early going.

Schering Plough (up $0.15 to $24.00, Charts) is buying Akzo Nobel's drug unit for $14.4 billion in cash. In addition, Dollar General (up $4.48 to $21.26, Charts) has agreed to be taken private by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. in a $7.3 billion cash and debt deal.

However, that was countered by new worries about subprime mortgage lenders.

New Century Financial (Charts) said its lenders have cut off its financing, in the latest blow to the mortgage lender to people with less than top credit. Shares were halted in the early going.

In addition, Countrywide Financial (down $0.77 to $35.33, Charts) said its expects some short-term earnings volatility due to events in the subprime mortgage lending market.

Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 4.54 percent from 4.58 percent late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar fell versus the yen and the euro.

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